The Vatican’s daily newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, has ignited controversy with an August 7, 2025, op-ed by Father David Neuhaus accusing Israel’s founding leader David Ben-Gurion and current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “weaponizing” the Bible to justify actions against Gaza. Neuhaus, a member of the Holy Land Catholic Church’s Justice and Peace Commission, claimed both leaders used conquest narratives from Deuteronomy and Joshua to rationalize Palestinian displacement, citing Ben-Gurion’s 1937 testimony to the Peel Commission as evidence of a biblically rooted mandate for the Jewish state. He further argued that Netanyahu’s wartime reference to Deuteronomy 25:17—calling Israel to “remember what Amalek did”—was a dangerous invocation of ancient enmity to promote modern-day conflict.

Scholars have pushed back strongly, accusing Neuhaus of distorting both historical records and present-day statements. Dr. Gavin Fernandes, a Hebrew Bible scholar, emphasized that Netanyahu’s reference was meant as a historical warning, not a direct call for genocide. Gerald McDermott, professor at Jerusalem Seminary, noted that Ben-Gurion’s Peel Commission testimony actually affirmed Arab rights in the land, vowing “nothing shall be taken away from them.” McDermott also criticized Neuhaus for using discredited claims about Gaza, pointing out that while the IDF has facilitated humanitarian aid deliveries, Hamas has diverted resources for its own fighters. These rebuttals frame Neuhaus’s commentary as ideologically motivated rather than historically or theologically sound.

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SOURCE: World Israel News