ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the relationships between the two popes, John Paul II (1978–2005) and Benedict XVI (2005–2013), and the State of Israel at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Through an examination of interviews, speeches, and numerous letters of John Paul II and his successor, Benedict XVI, this article seeks to demonstrate that after signature of the 1993 Fundamental Agreement with the State of Israel – and in contrast to the expectations of the Jewish People and the State of Israel’s leaders, the Holy See has refrained from conducting an interreligious dialogue with Israel’s government authorities. Instead, the relations of the Holy See with the State of Israel take a general and conflictual diplomatic form of practical relations that follow from the right of self-determination as a modern political – rather than theological – matter, as with any other state. These relations do not touch upon the interreligious issues relevant to both the State of Israel and the Holy See. The absence of this component derives from conflicting perspectives between the Holy See, on the one hand, and the Jewish People and the State of Israel, on the other hand.
