Last Call For A Higher State

I still have an enormous number of serious disagreements with the Catholic Church I was raised in, but the Pope is doing the right thing here when it comes to Palestinian recognition.

The Vatican has officially recognized the state of Palestine in a new treaty. 

The treaty, which was finalized Wednesday but still has to be signed, makes clear that the Holy See has switched its diplomatic relations from the Palestinian Liberation Organization to the state of Palestine. 

The Vatican had welcomed the decision by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 to recognize a Palestinian state. But the treaty is the first legal document negotiated between the Holy See and the Palestinian state and constitutes an official recognition. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to see Pope Francis on Saturday before the canonization of two new saints from the Holy Land a day later.

Recall that Pope Francis played a major role in helping to normalize the US/Cuba relationship, so he may know a thing or two about diplomacy.  But this is pretty huge, to have the Vatican recognize a full Palestinian state.  That will put a lot of pressure internationally on Israel, and Bibi's already reeling from his recent re-election close call with a less than fully stable coalition government.

The timing couldn't be better if you're Abbas, and I'm pretty sure President Obama isn't exactly upset over this either.

We'll see where this leads.