"The commitment to concluding the negotiations as soon as possible is renewed with special emphasis by the Plenary Session of the bilateral Commission, that was held in the Vatican on May 21st, and it is certainly comforting". It was stated to SIR by the Franciscan father David-Maria A. Jaeger, one of the greatest experts in the relations between the Church and the State in Israel, just after Benedict XVI’s audience with the Israeli president Peres, during which they wished for "a quick conclusion of the important negotiations that are still under way" about the Fundamental agreement with the Holy See. "From the releases that have been issued since then by the Delegations goes on the expert , it seems the climate is a friendly one and work is going on. But, if we look at the actual pace of the negotiations, as is also corroborated by the releases, it seems that, to reach the agreement, it will have to be seriously sped up, which means much more time will have to be spent and the meetings will have to go at a faster pace. It is in the public domain that the ‘matter’ is extremely wide, so, even just for a fully cooperative job, it would take a great deal of time. All things considered, I’d say cautious optimism wouldn’t be misplaced". (continued)
