The Zionist Organization of America has retracted criticism it made of the Vatican for anti-Israel behavior and language on tours of the area, saying it based the criticism on erroneous information it received.
The criticism, made in a press release on Nov. 29, stated the Vatican was organizing tours of Christian sites in “Palestine” that omitted the name Israel entirely from the language and presentation of the tour.
The ZOA characterized these actions as being part of a long-standing “replacement theology” that avoided using Jewish terminology, by referring to Israel as “the Holy Land,” for instance, according to The Jewish Press.
The ZOA had used a report by Giulio Meotti, a writer for Il Foglio, as its source for the information it used to make its criticisms, but the report was inaccurate, the ZOA said in a Dec. 1 press release. The Vatican travel office does not organize the tours referenced in the earlier criticism, the ZOA said. The tours are organized by private contractors.
“The ZOA regrets the error,” the new release read.
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