HAIFA: The head of the Roman Catholic church in the Holy Land said on Sunday that Israeli hate crimes against local Muslims and Christians are souring relations ahead of a papal visit.

“The unrestrained acts of vandalism poison the atmosphere — the atmosphere of co-existence and the atmosphere of collaboration, especially in these two weeks prior to the visit of Pope Francis,” Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal said.

“It is also a blight on the democracy that Israel ascribes to itself,” he told a news conference in the northern port city of Haifa.

The pope’s visit is scheduled to begin in Jordan on May 24, and he is then due to spend two days in the Holy Land from May 25.

On Friday, vandals spray-painted anti-Christian graffiti on a Jerusalem church, just days after the Roman Catholic church demanded that Israel act following the discovery of racist slogans daubed on a Vatican-owned property elsewhere in the city.

“The bishops are very concerned about the lack of security and lack of responsiveness from the political sector, and fear an escalation of violence, “the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement on Wednesday. In the wake of last week’s attack, Israeli police moved to boost security around holy sites.

Israel has been struggling to contain the spiralling number of so-called “price tag” hate crimes by Jewish extremists that target Palestinian and Arab property, including mosques and churches. Although police have made scores of arrests, there have been no successful prosecutions for price tag attacks, and the government has come under mounting pressure to authorise the Shin Bet internal security agency to intervene.—AFP