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Tel Aviv [Israel], December 22 (ANI/TPS): Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Thursday hosted leaders of different Christian communities ahead of the Christmas holiday. In place of the traditional reception, under the shadow of the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, the President spoke with the leaders of the community about the situation, about the State of Israel's commitment to the well-being of the different faith communities of the Holy Land, and about the shared hope for peace in the new year.
Among those attending the meeting were His Beatitude Theophilos III Giannopoulos, Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem; His Beatitude Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; His Beatitude Cardinal Battista Pietro Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and many more. President Herzog spoke about the terrible attack Hamas had carried out on October 7 saying "Evil forces of the worst kind carried out a barbaric, sadistic attack, killing innocent women, children, old people, young people, people from 40 nationalities, taking hostages, raping, chopping heads, burning people, and more." "Nothing of this is compatible with the Gospels, with the writing of the Gospels, with the teaching of Jesus Christ, or the teachings of course of the Jewish faith, and also with moderate Islam," said Herzog. The President noted how in the last year he has taken "clear steps to defend and to protect Christian communities in the Holy Land." He also said he expected "all religious leaders and all voices of the Christian world to express clear condemnation of these horrors [of October 7] and to support our efforts to eradicate evil from the face of the Holy Land, and enable a different future for Israelis, Palestinians, and the region as a whole." Greek Patriarch Theophilos III thanked the President and said: "We are with you today at the critical time for all the peoples of our multiethnic and multicultural and multi-religious Holy Land." (ANI/TPS)
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