JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Pope Francis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu traded words on Monday over the language spoken by Jesus two
millennia ago.
“Jesus
was here, in this land. He spoke Hebrew,” Netanyahu told Francis, at a
public meeting in Jerusalem in which the Israeli leader cited a strong
connection between Judaism and Christianity.
“Aramaic,” the pope interjected.
“He spoke Aramaic, but he knew Hebrew,” Netanyahu shot back.
Like many things in the Middle East, where
the pope is on the last leg of a three-day visit, modern-day discourse
about Jesus is complicated and often political. [ID:nL6N0OC0X6]
A Jew, Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the
Roman-ruled region of Judea, now the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He grew
up in Nazareth and ministered in Galilee, both in northern Israel, and
died in Jerusalem, a city revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, and
to which Israelis and Palestinians lay claim.
Palestinians sometimes describe Jesus as a Palestinian. Israelis object to that.
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