ROME: Israel has formally complained after a senior Vatican official spoke of 鈥渃arnage鈥� in Gaza and what he termed a disproportionate Israeli military operation following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
The Israeli Embassy to the Holy See called the comments by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, 鈥渞egrettable.鈥� In a statement Wednesday, the embassy said Parolin hadn鈥檛 considered what it called the relevant facts in judging the legitimacy of Israel鈥檚 actions.
Speaking Tuesday at a reception, Parolin condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks against Israel and all forms of antisemitism. But he questioned Israel鈥檚 claim to be acting in self-defense by inflicting 鈥渃arnage鈥� on Gaza.
鈥淚srael鈥檚 right to self-defense has been invoked to justify that this operation is proportional, but with 30,000 dead, it鈥檚 not,鈥� he said.
Israel has objected previously to the Vatican position on the war, including when Pope Francis spoke about 鈥渢errorism鈥� without referring to Hamas. Francis, who speaks daily via videoconference to a Gaza parish housing Palestinian civilians, has since tried to be more balanced in his comments and recently wrote a letter to the Jewish people in which he reaffirmed the special relationship between Christians and Jews.
In its statement complaining about Parolin, the Israeli Embassy accused Hamas of turning the Gaza Strip into 鈥渢he biggest terrorist base ever seen.鈥� It said Israeli armed forces were acting according to international law and said the proportion of Palestinian civilians to 鈥渢errorists鈥� killed was less than in other conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the Italian language statement originally emailed to Vatican journalists, the embassy used the term 鈥渄eplorevole鈥� or deplorable to describe Parolin鈥檚 comments. On Thursday, the embassy clarified that its original statement was written in English and had referred to Parolin鈥檚 comments as 鈥渞egrettable.鈥�
In a front-page editorial Thursday in the Vatican newspaper L鈥橭sservatore Romano titled 鈥淪top the Carnage,鈥� Vatican editorial director Andrea Tornielli doubled down on the Vatican position. Tornielli quoted a Rome-based Holocaust survivor, Edith Bruck, who has been highly critical of the Israeli government鈥檚 response, which she has blamed for the rise in antisemitic acts against Jews around the world.
鈥淣o one can define what is happening in the Strip as 鈥榗ollateral damage鈥� from the fight against terrorism,鈥� Tornielli wrote. 鈥淭he right of defense, the right of Israel to ensure justice for those responsible for the October massacre, cannot justify this carnage.鈥�
Friday鈥檚 edition of the Vatican newspaper featured a front-page article reporting that a group of rabbis had written to Francis thanking him for his Feb. 2 letter to Israeli Jews. According to excerpts of the letter, the rabbis praised the commitment of the Catholic Church to transform its relationship with the Jewish people from one of rivalry and incomprehension into one of friendship.