A few months ago I conducted a phone interview with Rabbi David Rosen on the subject of Vatican-Israeli relations for an article I am writing. For over an hour we discussed various issues surrounding the two sovereign states, including the ongoing resolution of the Fundamental Agreement between Israel and the Holy See. Throughout the interview, I was continually surprised at how optimistic and naive Rabbi Rosen was toward the Vatican's intentions in Palestine. I was even more puzzled when the rabbi chose to condemn Israel and Israeli Jews for their their reluctance to accommodate the Vatican's political and economic demands. Instead, I found him lauding Rome's infinite patience and apparent goodwill.
After the interview I wondered, Was he reading the same news I was reading?
Had he not witnessed the Vatican's frequent opposition to Israeli policy and, historically, Israel's very existence?
Could he not see the Vatican's desire to take Jerusalem away from Israel (and the Palestinians for that matter) and turn it into an international enclave?
It took me awhile to understand Rabbi Rosen's perspective, but when I did it all made sense: Rosen views the whole situation from the position of someone deeply committed to interreligious dialogue. For him, the relationship between the Vatican and Israel is really about the long-term relationship between Catholics and Jews. It is a dialogue between people of faith--between people who share at least a belief in God. Rosen's frustration manifests itself when he sees politics interfering with more important religious issues--in this case, when he sees Israel stalling for time in implementing all the provisions of the 1993 Fundamental Agreement. In his perfect world, Rosen would acquiesce to any of the Vatican's temporal demands in order to make peace between the two religions. As he writes on his website, "Interreligious dialogue is an essential component in facilitating peaceful reconciliation in international relations, for the wellbeing of our world as a whole."
Israel's reluctance to accommodate the Vatican's demands is, in my opinion, completely understandable. As I have been documenting on this blog since Sept. 2009, the Vatican constantly takes Israel to task on the international stage for one reason or another. Meanwhile, according to the Fundamental Agreement, Article 3(1):
"The Holy See and the State of Israel recognize that both are free in the exercise of their respective rights and powers, and commit themselves to respect this principle in their mutual relations and in their cooperation for the good of the people."
And according to Article 11(2):
"The Holy See, while maintaining in every case the right to exercise its moral and spiritual teaching-office, deems it opportune to recall that, owing to its own character, it is solemnly committed to remaining a stranger to all merely temporal conflicts, which principle applies specifically to disputed territories and unsettled borders."
Although the Fundamental Agreement (and the subsequent "Legal Personality Agreement") does provide for continuing negotiations between the two states--especially regarding the Roman Catholic church's tax-exempt status--Israel has good reason to feel that the Vatican has not exactly lived up to its end of the bargain. Not only does the Vatican not fully respect the Israel's exercise of its sovereign rights and powers (at least not without issuing thinly-veiled rebukes in international fora), but it also pokes its head into "merely temporal conflicts" within Israel that do not concern it. Israelis (those who care anyway) have the sense that the Vatican is talking out of both sides of its mouth and engaging the State of Israel for its own ulterior motives. Israelis have every right to be cautious in formally granting the Roman church tax-exempt status (which, in fact, Rome already enjoys de facto) or allowing the Latin patriarchate any kind of juridical extraterritoriality. The fact that the Vatican--supposedly an ally of the state--continues to disrespect Israel in the international arena only fuels Israeli suspicions that Rome is trying to "infiltrate" their own borders.
I do respect Rabbi Rosen's optimism and his innocent approach to international relations. However, politics is a dirty game and the Vatican excels at it. Even when it engages in religious dialogue, the Vatican is operating with political methods and political motivations. In short, I am quite sure that Pope Benedict XVI is far less idealistic than Rosen and his Jewish counterparts. Israel will give and the Vatican will take--even a short look at the Fundamental Agreement shows how one-sided the document is.
At any rate, this article comes from Haaretz. Tomorrow or the next day I will post an analysis of Benedict's speech at the Synagogue of Rome.
-------------------------------------------------
Rabbi calls Israel's treatment of Vatican "outrageous"
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Israel's behavior toward the Vatican over the past 15 years has been "outrageous," one of the figures behind the 1994 establishment of diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Vatican City told Haaretz last week. "Any [other] country would have threatened to withdraw its ambassador long ago over Israel's failure to honor agreements," Rabbi David Rosen said.
Rosen is to attend the meeting scheduled in Rome today between Pope Benedict XVI and a delegation from Israel's Chief Rabbinate, which is taking place at a time of crisis in the Vatican's relations with Israel and with Jewish leaders.
Rosen, a British-born former chief rabbi of Ireland who is the international director of interreligious affairs of the American Jewish Committee, said the Vatican agreed to diplomatic relations with Israel after Jerusalem pledged to recognize the legal status of Catholic institutions in Israel and exempt Vatican property in Israel from taxes. The process was to take two years, he said.
 |
Israeli bureaucrats wore down the Vatican by negotiating every tax clause separately instead of granting a general concession, as expected by the Vatican, Rosen said. He called claims that the Vatican wants Israel to cede territory to it "falsehoods" propagated by "xenophobes."
Last month Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon discussed the legal issues in Rome with Vatican officials. He later said the talks "broke down" and that there was a "crisis" in relations.
Meanwhile, some Israeli politicians and Jewish leaders were angered by the Pope's proclamation last month that Pope Pius XII is eligible for for beatification, despite evidence that he may have turned a blind eye to the Holocaust.
"Most people don't know that almost every current problem in Vatican-Jewish relations began not with Pope Benedict, but with his predecessor Pope John Paul II, who is now seen as a saint by Jews," Rosen said.
