ISRAEL – Italkim address the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

We herewith publish a copy of the letter sent by the Hevràt Yehudé Italia Be-Israel, the Community of Italian Jews in Israel, to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on 31 December 2024.  The letter is signed by the President of the Hevràt, Vito Anav, and countersigned by the lawyers Beniamino Lazar and Renzo Ventura.

Your Eminence,
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

We, the undersigned, Jews of Italian origin and Israeli citizens, turn to you because we see in your office, and in you personally because of our common Italian roots, a privileged interlocutor who can help to mend relations and prevent from deepening the rift that has opened up in our relations and undermines the Jewish-Christian dialogue.

We are all deeply concerned about the war situation, the loss of life and the suffering the war causes. Since 7 October, we have been living the tragedy of our people and of all parties. On that day the unspeakable happened. The aggression of Hamas terrorists and their accomplices against defenceless civilians was terrible and unjustifiable.
Our history makes us particularly sensitive to human tragedy. We are heartbroken at the thought of the abductees still held hostage by Hamas in inhuman conditions and the dead, we are troubled by the constant rocket attacks on civilians from multiple fronts to destroy us as a state and a people.
As if all this were not enough, we are deeply saddened by the statements of the Pope, who almost daily criticises the Israeli army with grave accusations of cruelty, while Palestinian terrorism has been mentioned only in passing, without highlighting the fact that terrorists use children as human shields and turn hospitals and places of worship into military centres: actions that constitute very serious war crimes, as established by international standards, and insult the divine image inherent in man.
Terrorism that shields behind its own children, that has turned hospitals, places of worship and children’s bedrooms into military centres, entrances to tunnels and caches of weapons and ammunition, must be condemned as required by international standards. Instead, there was a considerable equidistance of judgement between the first infamous terrorist act and the defensive response.
The veiled accusation of genocide against Israel is deeply offensive.
The shame and disgrace of such a hypothetical accusation has spread like a black veil over the entire people of Israel. This has happened despite the fact that lawyers know that the crime does not exist, because the elements are clearly missing.
The State of Israel has never wished to destroy an entire people; on the contrary, it has provided all the children of Gaza with polio vaccines, so that life will prevail over death. The humanitarian aid that is constantly sent by the State of Israel and other countries is constantly plundered by the Hamas militias for their own use, for smuggling and as a weapon of pressure on the defenceless population of Gaza.
It must never be forgotten that the Israeli army is a people’s army that follows the principles of Jewish morality and ethics. This is the morality that is taught from birth in our families to our children, who now perform military service in the defence of the state, according to rules of moral integrity, in accordance with international law.
As lovers of peace and dialogue, we are concerned about the deterioration of Jewish-Christian relations, which are shattered every time unfounded accusations are made against us by the religious leaders of the Church, recalling old prejudices that we had hoped to have overcome. This does not facilitate mutual understanding, but rather hinders it.
Finally, we were disturbed by the misunderstanding surrounding your visit to Gaza and the subsequent accusation against Israel of boycotting you, which fortunately was quickly resolved. In this climate, however, any misunderstanding is a harbinger of old and new rifts.
We thank you for your attention and we are sure that you will be able to pass our message to the proper authorities, and we wish you a New Year of peace, truth and dialogue.

Vito Anav
Beniamino Lazar
Renzo Ventura