Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz, a member of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel's Interfaith Committee, on Sunday sent a letter to His Excellency, Pope Leo XIV, Bishop of Rome.
"I write to you again as we approach Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) this Tuesday, April 14," Rabbi Weisz began. "Within living memory, during the horrors of the Holocaust (1933-1945), our people learned that when the world remains 'neutral' in the face of an eliminationist ideology, it effectively grants its consent to the aggressor."
The letter added that Jews "have noted with increasing concern the progression of your recent public addresses."
"On Palm Sunday (March 29, 2026): You stated that God 'does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.' By applying these verses broadly, you created a moral equivalence between those who initiate slaughter and those who are religiously compelled to defend the sanctity of life."
Rabbi Weisz also noted that on Easter Sunday, in the Pope's Urbi et Orbi address, he "specifically characterized the defense of our people against existential threats as a 'delusion of omnipotence.' To speak of 'omnipotence' today is to forget the catastrophe of our powerlessness only eighty years ago. As George Santayana warned, 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' We recognize the 'skinny rope' upon which Your Holiness walks, mindful that you have faithful followers living within countries governed by Jihadist ideologies. You may feel that silence is a shield for those Christian minorities, but as Elie Wiesel observed, 'Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.'"
"Furthermore, I must speak with the candor of a friend: The same Jihadist ideology that seeks our destruction will not stop at our borders. By failing to name this threat today, you risk the future of your own faithful. We would do well to remember the warning of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: 'In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.'"
Rabbi Weisz added, "The doctrine of Jihad openly declares the goal of destroying the Jewish people. Preaching against 'war' in general, while a specific religious war is being waged against us, effectively asks the victim to surrender. For Israel, military strength is not a 'delusion,' but a solemn duty to ensure history does not repeat itself."
"We ask Your Excellency: is there a moral equivalence between those who target civilians with missiles and those who build shelters to protect them? At this hour, the world requires the courage to distinguish between those who seek to preserve life and those who seek to destroy it.
"I write these difficult words in the spirit of our shared commitment to the sanctity of life, hoping that through honest dialogue, we may find a path to a peace that is rooted in truth," he concluded.