Vatican Supports Two-State Solution

Addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 27, a Vatican representative called for “courageous decisions” after Palestinian leaders appealed for statehood. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, did not say whether the Vatican explicitly supported the Palestinians’ U.N. initiative. But he said the Vatican viewed the Palestinian bid “in the perspective of efforts to find a definitive solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian question—an issue addressed by a U.N. resolution in 1947 that foresaw the creation of two states. “One of them has already been created, while the other has not yet been established, although nearly 64 years have passed,” the archbishop said on Sept. 27. “The Holy See is convinced that if we want peace, it is necessary to adopt courageous decisions.” Archbishop Mamberti called on the United Nations to work with determination to achieve “the final objective, which is the realization of the right of Palestinians to have their own independent and sovereign state and the right of Israelis to security, with both states provided with internationally recognized borders.”