Vatican support for Palestinian cause makes Israel keep its distance

By John Thavis in Rome ISRAELI Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has decided not to meet with Pope Paul II or other Vatican officials during his trip to Rome this week, an Israeli Embassy spokesman has said.
Israeli sources said the government saw little point in requesting a papal audience, given current Israeli-Vatican differences on Middle East policies. Israel's liaison to the Vatican has also downplayed recent meetings between the Pope and Arab leaders, saying he did not view the Vatican as a potential mediator in the.Middle East.
Shamir was scheduled to visit Rome this week for talks with Italian officials and Jewish leaders. At the beginning of February, similar visits were made by Jordan's King Hussein, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and a Palestinian Liberation Organisation official, Faruk Khaddoumi. Hussein and Mubarak met with the Pope, and Khaddoumi met with a top Vatican diplomatic official.
In statements issued at the time of the Arab meetings, the Vatican underlined its support for a Palestinian homeland as part of a Middle East settlement and its concern for justice in occupied territories. It also made clear its reservations about the current status of Jerusalem, which Israel has declared as its capital.
"The Vatican's positions have been clearly stated recently, and there is no need to discuss the issues. There is no need for any meeting with the Vatican," said an Israeli source who asked not to be identified.
Miron Gordon, the Israeli Embassy's liaison to the Vatican, said on February 9 that "in the long run, the questions will have to be settled through direct negotiations and not through mediators. And I am doubtful that the Vatican could be a mediator, anyway."
Israel has opposed proposals for an international peace conference to settle the fate of territories it has occupied since its 1967 war with Arab countries. After the Pope met with Mubarak on February 5, the Vatican praised Mubarak's efforts in favour of an international peace conference. Gordon said that the recent Vatican statements on Middle Eastern issues had highlighted Vatican-Israeli differencess, particularly on the question of Jerusalem. The Vatican has asked for international guarantees that Jerusalem be considered a holy city whose "spiritual patrimony" belongs to Jews, Christians and Moslems.
"We do not accept the Vatican stand on the status of Jerusalem," Gordon said, and added that "We maintain that an undivided Jerusalem is and will continue to be the capital of Israel". Israel affirmed the entire city as its capital in 1980, including the annexed Arab part of Jerusalem.
Gordon, referring to the Vatican statements, said that "there was never such a concern for the shrines" in Jerusalem before the 1967 war, when East Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan.
Shamir met with the Pope when he was Israeli foreign minister in 1982. In 1985, thenIsraeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres met with the Pope at the Vatican.