(May 18, 2025 / JNS) Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Sunday, hailing the pontiff’s call for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas as “a powerful and compassionate signal from the heart of the Catholic world.”

On Sunday, Pope Leo made one of his first public appeals by urging the immediate release of the 58 hostages, living and dead, still held in Gaza—now 590 days since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks—and for allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, whose situation, the pope said, “deeply saddens” him.

“I am grateful for the fact that one of the pope’s first acts was to call for the immediate return of all our sisters and brothers,” Herzog wrote on social media. “In all my meetings with world leaders, I carry with me the urgent call to bring all our hostages home, immediately.”

The Israeli president expressed hope that the new papacy would “usher in a new era of cooperation between all faiths” and strengthen Jewish-Christian-Muslim ties in the Holy Land. He extended an invitation for Leo to visit Israel, saying it would be “a powerful symbol of this important bond.”

“I look forward to working together to deepen the historic ties between Israel and the Holy See,” Herzog said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday congratulated the pope, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, for being elected head of the Catholic Church.

“Congratulations to Pope Leo XIV and the Catholic community worldwide. I wish the first pope from the United States success in fostering hope and reconciliation among all faiths,” wrote Netanyahu on X.

PHOTO: Use according to Section 27 A