Israel snubs Pope’s funeral: no ministers set to attend

Jerusalem is sending only its ambassador to the Vatican to Pope Francis’s funeral – the lowest level of representation possible.

People queue to pay their respects to late Pope Francis as his body lies in state at St Peter’s Basilica. Picture: AFP

Israel is reportedly planning to snub Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, with no government ministers set to attend.

Jerusalem is sending only its ambassador to the Vatican – the lowest level of representation possible, the Times of Israel reports.

According to the Israeli embassy to the Vatican, it will be represented by ambassador Yaron Sideman.

“It’s a low point in a spiral,” a diplomat told The Times of Israel. “I hope both sides will be able to overcome the differences and climb out of this together.”

The move follows Jerusalem’s decision earlier this week to delete a foreign ministry social media post that had offered condolences for the Pope’s death.

The foreign ministry, headed by Gideon Sa’ar had originally posted “Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing.” But soon after the posts were withdrawn, with the foreign ministry saying they had been posted in error.

There has also been silence from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the pontiff’s death, although Israeli president Isaac Herzog issued a condolence message expressing hope that Francis’ memory would “inspire acts of kindness and hope for humanity”.

The deletion of the foreign ministry message is believed to be in response to Francis’ repeated criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza where he accused Israel “of bombing children and mowing them down with machine guns”.

He had said the conflict was “not a war” but instead was “cruelty” and accused Israeli actions of showing the characteristics of genocide.

Raphael Schutz, Israel’s former ambassador to the Vatican, told the Jerusalem Post that the decision to recall the posts honouring the Pope was “a mistake”.

“We shouldn’t keep score like this after someone’s death,” he said.

When Pope John Paul II died in 2005, Israel sent both then-president Moshe Katsav and then-foreign minister Silvan Shalom.

Australian Cardinal Mykola Bychok left Jerusalem for Rome overnight (AEST), with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who is one of the candidates to replace Francis as pope

the paid concelebrated a requiem mass for Francis at Jerusalem’s Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.