The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has drawn the ire of the world’s most prominent rabbis, signaling a level of tension with the Jewish community that has not been seen since the days of Pope Pius XII and the aftermath of the Holocaust.

At issue is a reported phone call last month between His Holiness and Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, during which the pope told Mr. Herzog that it is “forbidden to respond to terror with terror,” the Washington Post reported, citing an Israeli official. This was taken as a blunt rebuke over Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza.