ByNathan Jeffay, Nathan Jeffay
Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, has claimed that the Vatican synod on the Middle East, which was convened this week, was "hijacked" by critics of Israel.
Bishops ended the two-week conference of Middle East bishops, organised by the Pope to discuss challenges facing Catholics in their region, with a call for Israel to accept UN resolutions demanding a stop to the "occupation."
The synod also expressed dismay at the Israeli right's invocation of biblical authority to oppose any pullout from the West Bank.
The conference released a statement saying that it opposes "recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the word of God to wrongly justify injustices".