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The Foreign Ministry’s deletion of condolence posts by Israeli embassies around the world following the death of Pope Francis on Monday has sparked rare outrage among Israeli ambassadors worldwide, particularly in Catholic countries, and has triggered internal criticism of ministry leadership in Jerusalem.
The tweets, which appeared on the official X platform accounts of various Israeli missions across the globe, featured variations of the message: “Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing.” Within hours, they were removed.
The ministry issued a directive instructing all Israeli diplomatic missions to delete any posts related to the pope’s death, without providing any explanation. Ambassadors were later instructed not to sign condolence books at Vatican embassies worldwide.
Some ambassadors, who voiced their frustration in internal Foreign Ministry WhatsApp groups, warned that the move could seriously damage Israel’s image, particularly among the hundreds of millions of Catholic believers globally. “We deleted a simple, innocent tweet expressing basic condolences—clearly because of the pope’s criticism of Israel over the war in Gaza,” one diplomat wrote.
Pope Francis had been especially vocal in his criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza in recent months. Nevertheless, his death was met with deep mourning in many communities around the world. Jewish media outlets noted the deletion of the Foreign Ministry’s post, describing the move as harsh and baffling.
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In addition to concerns over damage to Israel’s reputation, diplomats have also expressed frustration over the handling of the incident.
“We were given a direct order to delete the tweets, with no explanation,” said one Israeli ambassador. “When we asked for clarification, we were told the matter was ‘under review.’ That’s not good enough—not for us and certainly not for the public we represent.”
Many within the diplomatic corps are now warning that the incident could cause deep and lasting harm. “It’s not just that we didn’t offer condolences—we actively deleted them. It looks bad. Very bad.”
A senior Foreign Ministry official responded: “The tweet was posted by mistake. We responded to the pope’s statements against Israel during his life, and we will not do so after his death. We respect the feelings of his followers.”
Former Israeli Ambassador to Italy Dror Eydar said that Israel should not send a representative to the pope’s funeral, claiming Pope Francis “fueled antisemitism” during the war.