The Vatican announced that it had summoned the envoys of both Israel and the United States on Wednesday for meetings to oppose Israel’s plans to assert sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria within the framework of Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’.

In two separate meetings on Tuesday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin warned US Ambassador Callista Gingrich and Israeli Ambassador Oren David of the possibility of war saying: “regarding possible unilateral actions that may further jeopardize the search for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the delicate situation in the Middle East.” .

Ironically, the Bible, which the Vatican claims to uphold, commands the Jewish people to assert sovereignty over land of Israel including all of Judea and Samaria:

And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have assigned the land to you to possess. (Numbers 33:53)

In the same statement, the Holy See said that the “State of Israel and the State of Palestine have the right to exist and to live in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders.”

The Holy See then referenced Pope Francis’ 2014 letter ‘Invocation for peace in the Holy Land, Vatican Gardens saying: “It thus appeals to the Parties to do everything possible to reopen the process of direct negotiation, on the basis of the relevant Resolutions of the United Nations, and aided by measures that can reestablish reciprocal confidence, so that they may have ‘the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict: yes to dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities; yes to respect for agreements and no to acts of provocation; yes to sincerity and no to duplicity.”