Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel The Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel or "Fundamental Accord" is a treaty or concordat between the Holy See and the State of Israel, signed on 30 December 1993. The Agreement deals with the property rights and tax exemptions of the Roman Catholic Church within Israeli territory. It did not resolve all issues, and the parties continue to meet in an attempt to resolve the issues outstanding. As a result of the Agreement, diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Israel were established in
Foreign relations of the Holy See diminishing, the number of diplomats accredited to the Holy See grew from sixteen in 1871 to twenty-seven in 1929, even before it again acquired territorial sovereignty with the founding of the State of Vatican City. In the same period, the Holy See concluded a total of twenty-nine concordats and other agreements with states, including Austro-Hungary in 1881, Russia in 1882 and 1907, France in 1886 and 1923. Two of these concordats were registered at the League of Nations at the request of the countries involved. While bereft of territorial sovereignty, the Holy See also accepted requests to act as arbitrator