The Conference of European Rabbis’ Standing Committee responded to a statement by Pope Francis urging that the IDF's operation in Gaza need to be "carefully investigated."
"We are deeply disturbed by Pope Francis’s assertion that the Israel Defense Forces’ actions in Gaza 'should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition of genocide as formulated by jurists and international bodies,'" the statement read.
"In the wake of the Holocaust, the definition of genocide was defined by the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide as 'acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.'
"Whilst the effectiveness of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas can be debated, it remains a military response to the Hamas attack of October 7th 2023 and its explicit threat to repeat those indiscriminate murderous rampages whenever they can, and Israel is committed to international humanitarian law, while Hamas is violating every norm of that law."
The statement stressed, "Israel is fighting a defensive war against an unprovoked, barbaric enemy, unrestrained by any Western code of law or warfare. It is also fighting for the return of 101 hostages that are still being held by Hamas and its co-conspirators under most inhumane conditions."
"Despite the singularly difficult challenge of fighting a terrorist army that purposefully operates from within civilian population centers, Israel, in its military measures to defend itself, can still not be said to be engaging in genocide. The Pope’s support for this dangerous proposition lends credibility to the insidious narrative propagated by Iran and its proxies through international organizations. In our present time, when the free world and Western Civilization are under attack from dictatorships, the pope’s leadership is called for to defend freedom and democracy.
"The term genocide is now thrown around as a surreptitious propaganda device, shifting the responsibility from perpetrator to victim, from terrorist organizations unto the State of Israel. The mass murder by Hamas and their collaborators, and as intently expressed in their Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, 1988, demonstrates that unlike Israel, the aggressors absolutely do intend, have attempted, and continue to attempt genocide.
"The Bible declares how 'the prudent guard their tongue' as 'life and death are in the power of the tongue,' which our lived experience, suffering from rising violent antisemitism sadly confirms; every word issued from a major leader has immense consequences."
Last week, excerpts from an upcoming book set to be released ahead of the pontiff’s jubilee year and quoted by The Associated Press revealed that Pope Francis called for an investigation into whether Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the criteria for genocide. It is the first time Francis has explicitly advocated for such an investigation regarding Israel’s operations in Gaza.
The book, authored by Hernán Reyes Alcaide and based on interviews with the Pope, is titled “Hope Never Disappoints: Pilgrims Towards a Better World”. Scheduled for release on Tuesday, the book coincides with preparations for the Pope’s 2025 jubilee year, expected to draw over 30 million pilgrims to Rome.
"According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide," the Pope stated in excerpts published by the Italian daily La Stampa. "We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies."
Francis later claimed that his statements had been taken out of context: Meeting with an interfaith delegation at the Vatican on Monday, he explained, "I did not claim that Israel committed genocide. I was shown materials from the war, and I said that if this is true, then it needs to be investigated. I understand what is happening in Gaza. I think Hamas should no longer exist in the world, but the war should also not be prolonged."