Pope Francis received Yaron Sideman, Israel's new ambassador to the Holy See, on the occasion of the presentation of his credentials in the Vatican Apostolic Palace on September 16, 2024. The Israeli diplomat is beginning his mission against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, as the first anniversary of the deadly Hamas attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, approaches.
Yaron Sideman, 57, married with two children, has worked for his country's diplomatic service since 1996. However, this ambassadorial post in Rome will be his first. Prior to this, he was a member of the diplomatic staff at the Israeli representations in Nigeria and at the Consulate General in New York. Then, he pursued a long career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mainly in charge of the North America Bureau, which he headed between 2021 and 2024.
Yaron Sideman is the 9th Israeli ambassador to the Holy See. Diplomatic relations between Israel and the Holy See were established relatively recently, on December 30, 1993, three months after the Oslo Accords.
While maintaining courteous relations, the Holy See and Israel have differing positions on the resolution of the conflict between the Hebrew state and movements advocating the creation of a Palestinian state. The Holy See is a staunch and unyielding advocate of the “two-state solution,” while Israel has often shown itself to be skeptical.
The Pope and the Holy Land
Since October 7, the Holy See has consistently defended a line of diplomacy. In particular, it has called for the release of the hostages held by Hamas and, at the same time, for an end to Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip, as well as outside its territory, in order to avoid a widening of the conflict.
Pope Francis is keeping a close eye on the conflict. During the press conference on the flight back from Singapore on September 13, he said he continued to call the parish priest of the only Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip every day. “They tell me about ugly things, difficult things,” he said.
“I don't find that measures are being taken to make peace,” he lamented.
A disproportionate response?
In Rome, Yaron Sideman takes the place vacated on August 7 by Raphael Yaakov Schutz. Schutz had been quick in recent months to defend Israel's response to the murderous attack of October 7, when that response has been criticized by the Holy See.
The former ambassador reacted strongly last February when Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, judged the death of 30,000 Palestinians in response to the October 7 massacre to be disproportionate. “Judging the legitimacy of a war without taking into account all the relevant circumstances and data inevitably leads to erroneous conclusions,” the Israeli said, accusing the cardinal of relying on “Hamas sources.”
In an article published on the official Vatican News website, Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Vatican media, justified Cardinal Parolin's stance. He explained that “the right to defense, Israel's right to bring the perpetrators of the October massacre to justice, cannot justify this carnage” in Gaza.
He called for “the weapons to be silenced before it is too late for our world on the brink of the abyss.”
Support for Israeli hostages
On the eve of the presentation of Yaron Sideman's credentials, Pope Francis expressed during the Angelus his sadness at the death of five hostages. He referred in particular to the American-Israeli son of an Israeli mother whom he had received at the Vatican on November 22.
“May the conflict in Palestine and Israel cease! May the violence cease! May hatred cease! Let the hostages be released, let the negotiations continue, and let peaceful solutions be found!” urged the Pontiff, again linking the end of the Israeli offensive to the release of the hostages.
In a video posted on Twitter, the new Israeli ambassador thanked the Pope for his “repeated appeals” for the release of his compatriots, recalling that there are still 101 of them held by Hamas.
