Belgium has signed a deal to raise the status of the Palestinian diplomatic delegation to a mission.
“The raising [of the status] reflects Belgian and European support for the two-state solution,” Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said in a statement, according to the French news agency AFP.
Reynders signed the agreement during a bilateral meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan on Saturday, part of a diplomatic trip that included the Palestinian territories last week and is slated to take him to Israel this week.
Previously the Palestinians had been classified as a general delegation to Belgium. Now, under the new title, the head of their mission can assume the title of ambassador.
Belgium had planned the move since 2012 when it voted in the United Nations General Assembly to recognize Palestine as a nonmember observer state.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Israel and the United States were two of nine countries to vote against the UN measure, arguing that the only path to Palestinian statehood should be through direct negotiations with Israel.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been engaged in a new round of peace talks since mid-July.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
