Pope John Paul II visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 2000
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Even though the Vatican says it has received no formal request for the Pope to remove his golden crucifix during his visit to the wall, Rabinovitch's comments are bound to raise tensions on the eve of the trip. Israel's Foreign Ministry tried to smooth the waters by saying in a statement that "in accordance with rules of hospitality and dignity," the state of Israel will not prevent the Pope from wearing his cross when he visits the Western Wall.
But it is the rabbis rather than the government who hold sway at the Western Wall, and Rabinovitch has twice turned away Christian delegations. In November 2007, he refused to let Austrian bishops near the wall after they would not remove or conceal their crosses, and in May 2008, he refused a request from a group of Irish bishops and prelates to visit the site. "They wanted to wear their crosses openly," Rabinovitch says. His rebuff of the Irish bishops was deemed "provocative" by one church source who asked to remain anonymous. (Read "Finding God on YouTube.")
Explaining the intensity of feeling over the quintessential symbol of Christianity, Rabbi Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, a Jerusalem group promoting religious dialogue, says there exists among ultra-Orthodox Jews a "certain allergy toward the cross." Asking the Pope to remove his cross, he says, is "part of the ongoing paranoia of Jewish history. But it doesn't show respect for the leader of another major religion."
Rabinovitch was in charge of the Western Wall during the visit of Pope John Paul II in 2000, when the Pontiff prayed and twisted a written message into the cracks of the ancient stones, observing the Jewish belief that all prayers made at the wall are answered. Rabinovitch insists that John Paul II did not wear a visible crucifix during his visit to the site, but photographs taken during that visit clearly show the Polish Pope wearing his familiar golden cross as he touched the wall, head bowed.
Benedict, on his Jerusalem visit, also plans to tour the nearby Dome of the Rock, built on the site where Christianity, Judaism and Islam all believe that God prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son. For centuries, the shrine has been under Muslim control. A leading Muslim cleric, Sheik Tayseer Tamimi, Chief Justice of the Shari'a law courts in East Jerusalem, told TIME that cross or not, the Pope would be honored. "We would never object to his physical appearance," Tamimi said. "We don't believe in interfering in another religion's affairs."
It's possible that the fuss over the Pope's cross will blow over before Benedict arrives, since Rabinovitch's edict could be overruled by Israel's two chief rabbis, who are more politically attuned to questions of the country's international image. Abunassar, the Pontiff's media coordinator, says the goal of Benedict's trip is "to promote peace between Jews, Muslims and Christians alike." In these troubled times, that can be an uphill battle in the Holy Land.
— With reporting by Jamil Hamad / Bethlehem and Aaron J. Klein / Jerusalem