by Arieh Cohen

As has become tradition, the meeting took place in a "cordial" atmosphere and saw "progress." But the joint statement did not mention the dates of future meetings, which had been agreed.

Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) - The delegations of the Holy See and the State of Israel held a working meeting in Israel yesterday. They are charged with drawing up a third treaty between both parties, this time with the aim of confirming the historic fiscal status of the Church and safeguarding measures for the Holy Sites. At the end of the day’s discussions, the bilateral commission, which is includes both delegations, issued this joint communiqué:

“The Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State o Israel met today 21 September 2010 to carry on its scheduled work pursuant to Article 10 Paragraph 2 of the Fundamental Agreement (1993). The talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and produced progress towards the desired agreement”.

There is no indication of the date of the next meeting at this “working” level and there is no mention of the next plenary meeting, which was also decided on a bilateral basis last June at the Vatican for Dec. 6 next at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel.

• Vatican
• Israel
• holy
• see
• bilateral
• permanent
• working
• commission
• fiscal
• status
• holy
• sites
• protection