Wheels in wheels on Vatican/Israeli relations

Jacob Copper at Vatican Watcher has one of the better Catholic blogs on the internet. This week, he has been aggregating stories on the recent diplomatic sparks between the Vatican and the state of Israel: Here, here, here and here.

In brief, there is a lot more to the whole affair than Israel feeling left out by Vatican statements regarding terrorist violence. What Israel is trying to do is force the Vatican to back them unconditionally in their ongoing struggle with the Palestinians, and they are threatening both the Catholic Church's position among various Christian Communities in the Holy Land as well as the progress made as a whole between the Church and Judaism itself. Also, they are purposely taking advantage of the change in Papal leadership to improve their chances of gaining an advantage.

The Israelis and the prelates in Rome are all big boys, and I really can't say any foul balls have been thrown here. The Israelis do need to realize something, however.

The Vatican doesn't back anyone unconditionally, and they never have.