This coming 2 December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
will hold a private meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican.
Netanyahu
will meet the Pope as part of an intergovernmental summit between Italy
and Israel which is expected to start off in the northern Italian city
of Turin and then move to Rome.
The meeting had originally was
originally due to take place in October but was postponed for
organisational reasons and will now coincide with the bilateral summit
at the beginning of December.
The private audience between Francis and Netanyahu will be a chance
to discuss relations between the Jewish State and the Vatican and the
situation in the Middle East.
It will also be an opportunity to schedule
the Pope’s future visit to Israel. Israel’s President, Shimon Peres had
already invited the Pope to Israel when he visited Rome last May.
The
papal diplomatic visit will probably be scheduled for sometime next
year.