Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine in what it termed "Land of Israel" as well as not taking into consideration the places in Jerusalem holy for Judaism. The Israeli statement also claimed that recognizing the Palestinian Authority as a state damages the peace process by strengthening Palestinian refusal to negotiate. Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine The Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine is an agreement signed between the Vatican City State and the Palestinian Liberation Organization as representing the State of Palestine. It regulates the rights and obligations of the Catholic Church in areas of
Foreign relations of the Holy See is sovereign, the two entities are separate and distinct. The State of the Vatican City was created by the Lateran Treaty in 1929 to "ensure the absolute and visible independence of the Holy See" and "to guarantee to it an indisputable sovereignty in international affairs" (quotations from the treaty). Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, the Holy See's former Secretary for Relations with States, said that the Vatican City is a "minuscule support-state that guarantees the spiritual freedom of the Pope with the minimum territory." The Holy See, not Vatican City, maintains diplomatic relations with states, and foreign embassies are accredited to the