The former Israeli ambassador to the Vatican has accused the Israeli government of “boycotting” the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.
His comments come amid strained ties between Israel and the Vatican, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office took four days to offer condolences for the passing of the late pontiff.
An earlier offer of condolences posted on social media by the official state account of Israel had previously been deleted.
The Israeli government did not send an official delegation to Rome for the funeral ceremony of the Pope, instead opting for its ambassador to the Vatican, Yaron Sideman, to represent the country.
US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as monarchs and other heads of state, were among more than 200,000 people who attended the Pope's funeral. The Palestinian Authority sent Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa to the ceremony.
In an interview with Israeli news website, Ynet, former Israeli ambassador to the Vatican Raphael Schutz criticised the decision not to send a larger Israeli delegation. "When a leader of this magnitude passes away, you don't deviate from diplomatic protocols.
"We should discuss our disagreements with the Vatican directly with the Vatican, not by boycotting the funeral. A funeral that the whole world is attending, from Trump downwards, our absence creates a negative front for us with the entire Catholic Christian world – 1.3 billion people.
"These are two different matters: you can continue to express your dissatisfaction with the deceased pope and detail why he was wrong, and at the same time, you attend the funeral,” the former diplomat told Ynet. “This is how the diplomatic world behaves.”
“Beyond the fact that the funeral was an opportunity to meet other world leaders, as always happens at such funerals, Israel, through its absence, beyond the antagonism it created with the Christian world, also created yet another display of political isolation – and this is not a good image for us, certainly not in these times," Schutz added.
Schutz also said the decision by the foreign ministry to delete its statement about the Pope was a mistake.
After the fallout over the post, the Israeli prime minister’s office issued a two-sentence statement of condolences on Thursday night which read: "The State of Israel expresses its deepest condolences to the Catholic Church and the Catholic community worldwide at the passing of Pope Francis. May he rest in peace."
The late Pope was known for his criticism of the war in Gaza. He had called the humanitarian situation in the territory "shameful" and suggested the international community should investigate allegations of genocide.
