Swastika Removed From Pope Pic on Web Site

Israeli Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni prevailed on a party-related Web site to remove a picture that superimposed a swastika over a picture of Pope Benedict.

The BBC said the site, Yalla Kadima, isn’t an official party site, but rather a site where party activists express personal opinions. One of the Web site’s editors told the BBC the offending graphic was sent by pensioners.

The pope’s plan to elevate World War II Pope Pius XII to sainthood sparked protests among Jews who say he should have done more to prevent the Holocaust. Yalla Kadima said the pope has agreed to slow the beatification process to “maintain good relations with the Jews.”

Pius XII headed the Roman Catholic church from 1939 to 1958.

Israel has invited the current pope to visit the Holocaust memorial at Yad Vashem, which has a plaque castigating Pius for doing “nothing” to intervene in the mass deportations of Jews in Europe to Nazi death camps. The Vatican maintains Pius sheltered Jews in monasteries and churches.

Pope John Paul II visited Yad Vashem in 2000.