Vatican, Israel Cement Full Diplomatic Ties
Israel and the Vatican established full diplomatic ties Wednesday and said ambassadors will be exchanged soon, sealing a historic accord on mutual recognition and reconciliation after centuries of bitterness between Roman Catholics and Jews.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin said he and Vatican envoy Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo signed the relations agreement Tuesday.
The two sides had signed a 14-point “fundamental agreement” in December officially recognizing each other, but they delayed full ties until final details could be settled.
Beilin portrayed the pact as a fruit of Israel’s peace accord with the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Vatican is the 41st state to either establish, renew or upgrade ties with Israel since Arab-Israeli peace negotiations began in 1991.
Beilin said the agreement recognizes the Vatican’s right to have a say on the status of Jerusalem, especially the protection of holy sites.
He also said that one of the “important fruits” of the agreement will be a rare exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls on June 29 at the Vatican. He said the scrolls, discovered nearly 50 years ago, have never been displayed in Europe.
Two commissions of experts will now work out details of the legal and fiscal status of the Catholic Church and its possessions in the Holy Land, Beilin said.
The Vatican will open its embassy in Jaffa, a former Arab town that is now part of Tel Aviv and has a sizable Christian Arab population.
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