Give to the pope what is the pope's
Habayit Hayehudi ministers were absent from the welcoming ceremony for Pope Francis at the airport on Sunday. Even if all three of them had been stuck by some sudden illness, the statement they made was damaging to Israel. As those wearing knitted kippot, Habayit Hayehudi politicians, of all people, should have made it a point to send someone to greet the pope.
Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett will spend some time with the pontiff on Monday at Hechal Shlomo, the Jewish Heritage Center in Jerusalem, protected by Israel's two chief rabbis, but his absence from Sunday's ceremony did not exactly spell political maturity on an international level.
The fourth papal visit since 1964 has already been riddled with political undertones. The Palestinians had the pope pose against the backdrop of the security fence, where radical slogans had been spray-painted on the concrete; the descendants of the Palestinians who left in 1948 introduced themselves to him as sons of the 66-year-old "Nakba" ("Catastrophe"), and what they said was so menacing that the pope felt it was necessary to sidestep protocol and lecture them against the use of violence.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had no qualms making baseless accusations suggesting Israel was infringing on Christians' rights. On whose behalf was he speaking? On behalf of the boorish muezzin, whose call of "Allahu akbar" ("God is great") was louder than usual, as if meant to overshadow the papal Mass in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem? On behalf of the Muslims who persecute a Christian priest seeking to see his community integrate in Israeli society in full, including military service? Or was it on behalf of what the Muslims were doing to the Christians in Nazareth, or the Arab refusal to recognize the right to self-determination of those who claim they are the descendants of the biblical Arameans?
Despite some discordant tones, Israel has great interest in remaining in Pope Francis' good graces. His close associates are adamant that he "loves Jews," although they are unclear on whether he "loves Israel." Judeo-Christian history has been rife with libel, plots and pogroms, but somehow, following the Holocaust and thanks to the efforts of Pope John Paul II, these two religions have turned a corner and have learned how to truly coexist and cooperate to protect their mutual interests.
The disputes remaining between Judaism and Christianity have not been radicalized -- not just in respect to the Catholic Church, but with other denominations in Christianity as well, including those who support Israel as part of their belief that some day it will become, yet again, the kingdom of Jesus of Nazareth. Until such time, the two religions have a common interest in creating political, economical and security collaborations, especially when it comes to the joint efforts to stop radical Islam from overrunning Christian nations.
Such endeavors require sensitivity and the reining in of extremists who sought to undermine the pope at the site of the Last Supper on Mount Zion, of all places. Is also mandates wall-to-wall support for Pope Francis' invitation to President Shimon Peres and Abbas to join him in a prayer service for peace at the Vatican next month.
We would be wise to heed whatever the pope asks or suggest. In the words of the founder of Christianity -- who was, throughout his 33 years, Jewish -- "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's" (Matthew 22:21). The same goes for the pope.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו