The Diplomatic Relations Between Israel and The Holy See
The Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel was signed by the Holy See and the State of Israel on 30 December 1993. It deals with the property rights and tax exemptions of the Roman Catholic Church within Israeli territory. As a result of the Agreement, the Vatican established in 1994 full diplomatic relations with Israel, and appointed an Apostolic Nuncio to Israel. Several outstanding issues had still to be resolved.
On 10 November 1997, the Vatican and Israel entered into a further agreement, called Agreement Between the State of Israel and the Holy See, also referred to as the Legal Personality Agreement or the Agreement on the Legal Personality of the Church, but neither of these agreements have been passed by the Knesset. By the agreement, Israel recognised the juridical personality and the authority of canon law within the Catholic Church and its institutions, as well as those of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and of the Eastern Catholic Patriarchates and their respective dioceses in the territory of Israel, and their recognition of prevailing Israeli law in civil and criminal matters.
Diplomatic tensions often arise due to the non-resolution of the accords relating to property rights and tax exemptions for the Church in Israel, the political activism of clergy in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and the interplay between Israel-Vatican relations – on one hand – and the Jewish-Catholic inter-religious dialogue – on the other. The main concerns of the Vatican in Israel is the protection of the Latin Rite Catholic churches, its properties and assets, and of the Holy places. Israel, for its part, has often taken offense at matters perceived by the church to be internal, but of religious/historical consequence by the Israel and Jews around the world (e.g. the beatification of Pope Pius XII, the pardoning of a Holocaust-denying priest, the subordination of inter-religious dialogue to evangelical aims, etc.).
However, relations remain tense because of the non-fulfillment of the accords giving property rights and tax exemptions to the Vatican.
Read more about this topic: Holy See–Israel Relations
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