Israeli officials fear the pope’s vocal criticisms and symbolic gestures - such as this year’s nativity scene in St Peter’s Square featuring baby Jesus resting on a Palestinian keffiyeh - may influence global public opinion.

Created by Bethlehem artists Johny Andonia and Faten Nastas Mitwasi, the nativity scene prominently features Palestinian materials, including olive wood, a symbol of Palestinian resilience.

During its unveiling, Pope Francis condemned the global arms industry for profiting from human suffering and reiterated his call for an end to all wars, urging the faithful to remember those suffering in the holy land.

The display, praised by many as a message of solidarity and peace, drew backlash from Israel’s supporters, who accused the Vatican of promoting a pro-Palestinian agenda.

  • Shard@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Lets not confuse intelligence that something major is going to happen with actionable intelligence where you can preemptively take action to prevent an attack.

    Prior to 9-11 there was most definitely increased chatter and I’d hazard a guess that many security and intelligence agencies knew something was going down on US soils but didn’t have actionable specifics that would have allowed them to take appropriate action and prevent 9-11.

    I think it was a similar issue with Israel and they must have believed that the worse case was an isolated terrorist bombing and to prepare a typical lockdown and emergency services response and not a massive raid on their territories.

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      Yeah someone else provided some good links to the links here. I was making the same connection. Check the other reply.