President Isaac Herzog met US Vice President JD Vance as well as Pope Leo XIV during the Pope's Inauguration on Sunday in Vatican City.
Herzog invited the Pope to visit Israel ahead of the pontiff's inauguration on Sunday.
“I carry with me a message of friendship, respect, and dialogue – and I invite him to visit the Holy Land and meet the people of Israel," Herzog said in an interview with the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.
In his interview, he highlighted Jerusalem's desire to have closer relations with the Christian world, particularly Catholics.
Today I have the privilege of representing Israel at the historic inauguration of @Pontifex Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican. 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 who have now been held…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) May 18, 2025
The Jerusalem Post reported that Herzog's family had a history of securing diplomatic relations with the Vatican. His father, former president Chaim Herzog, cultivated official diplomatic relations with the holy city.
'October 7 was not simply a massacre'
He also spoke about Jerusalem's hope for relations with the Vatican, including the language used around the October 7 massacre and the hostages.
“We must understand my people’s pain. October 7 was not ‘just’ a massacre – it was a massacre of people who dreamed of peace and lived alongside neighbors who attacked them with cruelty. That cannot be downplayed," he said. “If they are released, there will be a dramatic and positive change—not only in Gaza, but across the entire region.”
At his inaugural mass, the pope discussed the war in Gaza and the supposed lack of humanitarian aid in the enclave.
“In Gaza,” he said, “the surviving children, families and elderly are reduced to starvation."