ROME, Feb 28, 03 (CWNews.com) - Israel's ambassador to the Holy See has taken issue with recent Vatican statements regarding the situation in the Middle East.
In an interview with the Italian publication L'Espresso, Yosef Neville Lamdan showed his discomfort in particular with statements by Archbishop Renato Martino, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who had described the Middle East as a «land of unkept promises» and a breeding ground for world terrorists. The Israeli ambassador said that there is «no direct link» between international terrorists such as Al Qaida and Palestinian terrorists who menace Israel. And he said: «A possible war in Iraq is not our war.»
Lamdan faulted the Vatican for «a certain tolerance and permissiveness» in dealing with Palestinian leaders. And he complained about the «strongly partisan» activities of some clerics in the Holy Land. When asked whether he was referring to Jerusalem's Patriarch Michel Sabbah, the Israeli diploma declined to answer directly, but said that «that even in the Vatican Curia there is an awareness of the difficulties created by a man who seems unable to distinguish between religion and politics, and in this case, pro-Palestinian politics.»
In a separate story indicating tensions between the Holy See and the government of Israel, the New York-based Jewish Week reported that Israel has routinely denied visas to Christian clerics, prompting sharp expressions of concern from Rome. Jewish Week said that the Israeli Interior Ministry, which is controlled by the religiously conservative Shas party, has strained relations with the Catholic Church in particular. The policy is an apparently violation of a 1994 agreement with the Vatican, which guaranteed free exercise of religion for Christians in the Holy Land.
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28. februar 2003