Pope Leo XIV welcomed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican on Thursday, continuing a decade-long pattern of papal support for dividing the Land of Israel. The meeting, described as “cordial” by Vatican officials, centered on two key demands: humanitarian aid for Gaza and the establishment of a Palestinian state through a so-called two-state solution.
The “Two-State Solution” is an agenda that would create an unprecedented militarized Palestinian enclave within Israel’s borders ethnically cleansed of Jews with its exclusively Muslim capital in Jerusalem. This agenda is based on the failed land-for-peace model that resulted in the creation of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas-ruled Gaza.
The timing of this meeting is particularly significant. Abbas, now in his 19th year of what was supposed to be a four-year term, has repeatedly canceled elections and maintained power through increasingly authoritarian means. Yet the Vatican treated him as a legitimate head of state, dignifying his visit with a full hour in the pope’s private library at the Apostolic Palace.
The Vatican’s willingness to partner with Abbas ignores his administration’s systematic reward of terrorism. The Palestinian Authority operates a “pay-for-slay” program that distributes stipends to imprisoned terrorists and the families of dead attackers, with payments calculated according to the severity of their crimes—the more Jews killed, the higher the reward. This policy has created Palestinian millionaires out of mass murderers. The program continued after October 7, with funds flowing to terrorists who participated in the massacre of Israeli civilians. Abbas himself has defended these payments as “a social responsibility,” refusing international demands to end the practice. The Vatican’s embrace of such a leader raises fundamental questions about its commitment to genuine peace.
The answer lies in understanding what authentic peace requires according to Biblical tradition. The prophet Isaiah declared: “Thus said the LORD: Observe what is right and do what is just; For soon My victory will come, And My deliverance be revealed” (Isaiah 56:1). Justice precedes peace. The prophet does not promise peace through land concessions or diplomatic negotiations with those who reject Israel’s right to exist. He demands righteousness first.
The Vatican’s statement emphasized the “urgent need” for a two-state solution, language that has become standard in these meetings. This marks the tenth anniversary of the Holy See’s formal recognition of “the State of Palestine” through a comprehensive agreement signed in June 2015. That document represented the first time the Vatican used such terminology in a binding legal agreement, effectively treating Judea and Samaria—the Biblical heartland of the Jewish people—as occupied Palestinian territory.
Pope Leo has followed the path established by his predecessor, Francis, who met with Abbas seven times at the Vatican and once in Bethlehem. During that 2014 visit to Bethlehem, Francis placed his hands on the security barrier that protects Israeli civilians from terrorist attacks, a gesture widely interpreted as criticism of Israel’s defensive measures. A year later, Francis presented Abbas with a medallion depicting “the angel of peace destroying the bad spirit of war,” words that rang hollow given Abbas’s continued incitement against Israel and payments to families of terrorists.
The pattern extends beyond symbolism. Pope Francis stated that accusations of Israeli genocide “should be investigated,” lending credibility to blood libels against the Jewish state. The Vatican even displayed a nativity scene showing the baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh, the symbol adopted by Palestinian nationalist movements. The scene was removed only after international backlash exposed its inflammatory nature.
The Sages taught that those who are kind to the cruel will ultimately be cruel to the kind. The Vatican’s persistent embrace of Abbas, while he rewards terrorism and refuses to recognize Jewish rights to any part of Israel, demonstrates this principle. Pope Leo told Israeli President Isaac Herzog in September that a two-state solution represented “the only way out of the war.” This ignores the fundamental reality: Israel’s enemies do not seek a state alongside Israel but a state instead of Israel.
The prophets spoke clearly about the Jewish people’s eternal connection to their land. No amount of diplomatic pressure or papal declarations can erase the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When religious leaders advocate for surrendering Jewish land to those who deny Jewish history and rights, they position themselves against the Biblical narrative they claim to honor.
The Vatican’s decade of recognizing a Palestinian state has produced no peace, no reconciliation, and no acknowledgment of Jewish rights. It has only emboldened those who seek Israel’s destruction while providing diplomatic cover for a dictator who refuses to hold elections or make genuine peace. This is not the path to peace. It is the path to continued conflict, dressed in the language of compassion while ignoring justice.
