Until now, Pope Benedict XVI has shown himself to be a warm partner in interfaith dialogue in word and deed. So one can only greet with profound dismay his pardon of the United Kingdom’s Bishop Richard Williamson. The British Church leader and three other ex-communicated Catholic leaders were brought back into the fold on Saturday, Jan. 24. They are members of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX. Their group rejects the reforms of the famous 1965 Vatican II Council. Among other things, that landmark doctrine called for the formal removal of anti-Semitism from the Church.

That would be bad enough. But Williamson – I won’t give him his religious courtesy title because he cannot, in my book, be a religious person—last year publicly declared that no more than 300,000 Jews were killed in the Holocaust and that there were no gas chambers.

Part of the response: In addition to the expected slew of critical press releases from Jewish groups, Israel’s Chief rabbis just broke relations with the Vatican and canceled participation in a scheduled March meeting in Rome with the pope’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.

The only good news is that our shock and revulsion does not stand alone. In fact, Dutch bishops have called their British colleague’s remarks “disrespectful and idiotic.” Likewise, Germany’s Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews, has said, “Such gibberish is unacceptable.”

Meanwhile, the Pope is scrambling to do some damage control, according to the JTA Wire Service. In his Wednesday prayer at his public audience, he said, “While I renew with affection the expression of my full and unquestionable solidarity with our [Jewish] brothers, I hope the memory of the Shoah will induce humanity to reflect on the unpredictable power of hate when it conquers the heart of man.” For good measure, a front-page editorial in the official Vatican newspaper in its Monday-Tuesday edition called Williamson’s statements “unacceptable.” Then Bishop Bernard Fellay, the superior-general of the SSPX, publicly disavowed statements by Williamson that denied the Holocaust and barred Williamson from speaking further on the issue.

You know what? It’s not good enough. If an important Jewish leader declared, “Jesus had it coming to him for challenging the rabbis of his day,” we Jews would quickly denounce that person and never give him or her an important position again. Not only that, but as sure you can bet that I’ll eat chicken soup at Shabbat dinner, that rabbi would be making a public apology within a day or two.

Frankly, this is a moment of disgrace for the Vatican. After 18 plus centuries of anti-Jewish Church-inspired persecution, it is abominable to become an apologist for a Christian theologian who questions humanity’s most documented crime and then does not seek to apologize.

Look, I’m more than aware about the dangers in lecturing other religious leaders about their conduct within their faith. But for we Jews– and I’d think all caring people—this is far more than an internal Church matter. It is about how the Church chooses to position itself publicly on the most sensitive of concerns.

Until now, Pope Benedict has had good marks in the always emotional sphere of Catholic-Jewish ties. He has visited a synagogue in his native Germany and received Jewish audiences in Rome. Prior to assuming the papacy, he was a behind-the-scenes positive force in Pope John Paul II’s remarkable outreach to Jews.

So one must wonder what constituency Pope Benedict sought to ameliorate in this recent decision – and why it would be worthy of a world leader’s passing thought.

Is Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the payroll of anti-Semites who gleefully pounce to prove their absurd notion that U.S. Jews and Israel control American foreign policy?

Of course not. Still, one wonders. Lambasted at home as “the worst prime minister ever,” the Israeli already faces pending indictments for multiple counts of corruption – assuming the country’s famously slow justice system comes through. Now he’s ensuring that American Jews remember him with great disdain as well.

On Monday and Tuesday this week, he wasted valuable time jockeying with State Department officials over allegations that he was proud to have “embarrassed” Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice.
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Mr. Olmert told an audience in Ashkleon that he persuaded President George W. Bush to override Dr. Rice’s preferred support of a U.N. resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”

The Israeli leader called President George W. Bush to ensure that the U.S. did not vote for the ceasefire resolution.

“I said: ‘Get me President Bush on the phone,’” he said during the speech. “They said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia. I said I didn’t care: ‘I need to talk to him now.’ He got off the podium and spoke to me.”

Then, he added about Dr. Rice, “She was left pretty embarrassed.”

Do anti-Semites need any more help? It’s so easy to maliciously twist this into “proof” that Israel and American Jews control U.S. foreign policy.

For her part, Dr. Rice countered, “I had made very clear that I thought the resolution was premature, and there were also concerns about a resolution that had Israel, a member-state of the United Nations, and Hamas, which is a terrorist organization. You don’t ever want there to be any equating those two.”

For good measure, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack suggested that the Israeli government might want to clarify or correct the record.

He’s right. This isn’t how you treat friends. And frankly, a U.N. resolution is the least of Israel’s worries right now.

Sadly but not surprisingly, major American Jewish groups have been silent on the matter. They should speak out. Israel’s Prime Minister speaks for the Jewish state and we Diaspora Jews seek to help whoever is in that position. That includes being heard when such a leader acts wrongly. It’s how we do it that counts. We love Israel, but we’re not political puppy dogs. We are far beyond the days of “Israel right or wrong” – even when the State of Israel is at war.

For sure, anti-Semites will hate the State of Israel no matter what. That doesn’t mean we should give them fodder for their cereal gruel.

ADDENDUM: Olmert is supposed to resign when a new government is formed. That government failed to come into fruition in October when Kadima leader and Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni failed to woo the Sephardi Orthodox Party, which wanted a political bribe larger than she would pay. Thus, Olmert is in power for at least one month after the scheduled February 10 elections, the period needed to form a new coalition. But those elections are likely to be delayed due to the war. Thus, Mr. Olmert will have a chance to insult incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well.

It would be callous this week to write about Jewish topics beyond the 2008-2009 Gaza War.

One of the many fascinating aspects is the tortured and even apologetic approach many American Jews are taking to the newest round of fighting in a conflict whose modern outbreak began in earnest in the riots of the 1920s.

I can relate to the twisted emotions felt by so many here. How can anyone be anything other than heartbroken when seeing videos and photos of Palestinian children and families maimed and killed in the Israeli attacks? At the same time, how can any logical person say Israel’s massive counter-offensive was not justified? (What would, by the way, be considered a “proportionate response” to 6,500 rockets and mortars hurtling toward your civilians in about three years?)

Herein lies the difficulty for many American Jews: We are caught in the dilemma of wanting to strongly defend Israel’s actions while not sounding cavalier about the realities of Palestinian suffering. It is a difficult line to walk indeed. And if you are speaking with someone who has little background in the topic, it is even harder.

Thus, one understands the calls for an immediate ceasefire as well as allegations of stopping the “cycle of violence” while cringing at the news footage or radio reports.

One person who unknowingly has helped me is Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman of Kol HaShema in Jerusalem – a liberal congregation. He recently wrote “A Jew’s Prayer for the children of Gaza.” http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052871.html

All it does is ask for the protection of children. It’s that simple. It captures the sentiments of many of us. I obviously add to it prayers for the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and the State of Israel.

So let us rally around Israel, which really is fighting a frontline action against Islamic terrorism/fundamentalism that if unchecked will eventually topple Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and more in the most violent of ways.

But let us also not hold back voicing our concerns for the Palestinians who – once again – are at the whim of unrepentant terrorist thugs who put many more millions of dollars into buying missiles than into updating classrooms and economic infrastructures.