[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]
In the presence of the media, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu used the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, 25 Iyar, to welcome Pope Francis to Israel.
“We welcome the arrival of Pope Francis to the Land of Israel, the Holy Land. His visit here is an opportunity to show the world the true Israel, the advanced, modern and tolerant Israel, in effect, the only country in the Middle East that ensures complete freedom of worship to those of all faiths, guards the holy places and ensures the rights of all – Jews, Muslims, Christians, everybody.
“We appreciate the Pope’s strong stand against anti-Semitism, especially in light of the surging Jew hatred that we have witnessed in recent days. Last’s night’s murder in Brussels is the result of constant incitement against the State of Israel by various elements in the Middle East and in Europe itself. There are elements in Europe that rush to condemn the construction of a flat in Jerusalem but do not rush to condemn – or offer only weak condemnations of – the murder of Jews here or in Europe itself and, even worse, welcome unity with a terrorist element such as Hamas, which calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. We oppose such hypocrisy, we protest against it, we will continue to always state the truth, we will continue to fight terrorism and we will continue to build up our state”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
Shame the PM doesn’t either have enough courage or a good enough speech writer to have crafted his message with a little more precision. Instead of “We welcome the arrival of Pope Francis to the Land of Israel, the Holy Land. His visit here is an opportunity to show the world the true Israel, the advanced, modern and tolerant Israel, in effect, the only country in the Middle East that ensures complete freedom of worship …” this should have read “We welcome the arrival of Pope Francis to the Land of Israel, the Holy Land, given by G-d to his holy nation as an eternal inheritance. His visit here is an opportunity to show the world the true Israel, the advanced, modern and tolerant Israel the only nation state in the Middle East that ensures complete freedom of worship to those of all faiths …”
“the only country in the Middle East that ensures complete freedom of worship to those of all faiths,”
well said bibi, unfortunately this is the only cuontry in the world that is explicitly required not to do so.
..אבד תאבדון את כל המקומות