The Fundamental Agreement is supplemented by an Additional Protocol signed on the same date, that details provisions related to the establishment of normal diplomatic ties between the Holy See and Israel.
The Agreement and its Additional Protocol were ratified by the State of Israel on 20 February 1994, and on the same date the Holy See was notified of such ratification.
Also on that date, upon the completion of the exchange of diplomatic notices regarding the ratification of the treaty, it entered into force in international law.
The change in rules by Israel relating to the previously easy grant of visas to Church personnel is an issue for the Vatican.
When the region was part of the Ottoman Empire and, later, under the British Mandatory Administration, church properties enjoyed a special legal and tax status.
In a paper on the first five years of the accord, Rabbi David Rosen, director of the American Jewish Committee's Department for Interreligious Affairs, stated that normalizing the legal standing of church personnel and institutions is a complex matter.
Rosen wrote: The Holy See would have liked to have been considered as an extra territorial entity, enjoying the same privileges granted to foreign delegations and their properties.
[7]The Israel-Vatican Working Commission was convened in Jerusalem on 30 April 2009 to try to resolve economic issues with the then forthcoming visit of Benedict XVI to the Middle East in mind.