Blaming Pope Francis for rising antisemitism, Dror Eydar urged Israel to reject any official participation in his funeral.
Dror Eydar, former Israeli ambassador to Italy, said Israel should not participate in the funeral of Pope Francis, who passed away Monday at the age of 88.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Eydar accused the late pontiff of antisemitism and claimed that attending the funeral would be a blow to Israel’s national dignity.
Eydar criticized Pope Francis for, in his words, offering only limited support for Israel while sharply condemning its actions in Gaza.
“He spoke about the children of Gaza, not our children, and portrayed us as the villains of the world,” Eydar said, further accusing the Pope of fueling global antisemitism.
The late pope, according to Eydar, “continued to filter venom against us and accused us of genocide”.
every day since the Gaza genocide began Pope Francis made sure to call the parish there to check with them and lift their spirits amidst the Israeli mass indiscriminate bombing, starvation, torture and killing. He did this even as he became ill recently: pic.twitter.com/wIbh79FyAR
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(@zei_squirrel) April 21, 2025
“He is largely responsible for the rise in waves of antisemitism in the world. He spoke in terms of compassion and presented us as the world’s wicked,” the former ambassador claimed.
Eydar went further by drawing a controversial comparison between Pope Francis and Pope Pius XII, who led the Catholic Church during World War II and has long faced scrutiny over his silence during the Holocaust.
“Pope Francis’ name was rivaled in the degree of his antisemitism only by Pius XII,” he claimed, adding: “Pius XII is the Pope who was silent during the Holocaust.”
Suggesting that Israel refrain from sending a high-level delegation, Eydar said the country should be represented only by a low-ranking official, to signal that “Jewish blood is not cheap.”
“The church has shown us one role in history – to remain on the cross, to return to all the pogroms. In deep ways, the Holocaust was Golgotha, more than the Golgotha where Jesus was crucified.”
According to Eydar, “The meaning of the establishment of the State of Israel is that Jesus comes down from the cross, wraps himself in a tallit, and returns to being a Galilean Jew.”
“This time, he holds a weapon,” he claimed.
Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday morning at the age of 88, was the first Jesuit and the first Latin American pontiff.
In the final years of his papacy, he consistently spoke out about the war in Gaza, expressing concern for civilians and calling for peace and humanitarian access.
In January 2025, he called the humanitarian crisis in Gaza “very serious and shameful” and firmly stated: “We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians … that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed.”
Weeks earlier, he had suggested the international community must ask whether Israel’s military campaign amounted to genocide—a remark that drew sharp criticism from Israeli officials, who accused him of antisemitism.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Dunce! You are the villains of the world, and your children are just fine. How many Israeli children have had 500 pound bombs dropped on them while they’re sleeping in tents in a displacement camp??? ZERO.
What a scumbag. Like most Jews, he uses that old tired claim of antisemitism, when most Jews in ” Israel ” aren’t even from there. The innocent people of Palestine, and Gaza, are Semitic. This is why most people hate the Jews, because of people like him. Fine, don’t participate in the Pope’s funeral. But really, it doesn’t matter because most of you would be arrested anyway.
They have no business attending as they have no “national dignity” and are the “villians of the world”. What a bigot to offend the Pope in his death who was always against killing of anyone, particularly children. Israhell attendees will not be missed. Send Netanyahu and let him get arrested for war crimes.
Why call the Pope anti-Semitic when he is asking for Peace? It seems when anyone disagrees with Isreal it brings negativity.Isreal is committing a genocide. It has nothing to do with defending itself.
To withhold food, water,electricity, and medical supplies is a war crime.
The destruction in Gaza and the West Bank is a horrible crime.Isreal has destroyed schools,hospitals churches and Mosques,they even bombed a zoo.
Anyone that sees what is going on in Palestine and calls for Peace is not anti-Semitic they are human
Well, Dror Eydar, former Israeli ambassador to Italy has certainly shown he loves the taste of his own toes! (With or without ketchup?) By labeling opposition to the gratuitous targeting of civilians in Gaza “antisemitic”, he is in effect defining mass murder as “Jewish”. So Dror Eydar it is, along with the other members of the Israeli and Zionist establishments, not deceased Pope Francis, who is fueling antisemitism, the unreasoning hatred of Jews, worldwide.
Pope Francis Anti-Semite? Who is not?
What else could be expected from the genocidal Zionist state?
For Zionists anyone that has a valid criticism is called an anti-Semite. This nut practically calls Christ one..
I think the Pope would be happy if he knew that a genocidal, Illegal entity refused to take part in his funeral. If the US and Zios are mad at you, then you are on the right path.
Behold, Zionism! “The meaning of the establishment of the State of Israel is that Jesus comes down from the cross, wraps himself in a tallit, and returns to being a Galilean Jew. This time, he holds a weapon.” Eydar just declared the Jesus, Prince of Peace, is Jesus, Prince of War. Lucifer would be pleased. Praise him, Eydar, the Anti-Christ.