Israel and the Vatican agreed Tuesday to take the contentious issue of sovereignty over the Last Supper Room in Jerusalem out of the basket of bilateral issues being discussed, to facilitate movement in glacial negotiations on other issues that have already been going on for 11 years. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon met in the Vatican with Monsignor Ettore Balestreo, the undersecretary for relations with states, and issued a statement that "welcomed the progress" of a lower working-level commission thrashing out issues such as taxation of church property, land expropriation, and sovereignty over certain sites, such as the room where the Last Supper was believed to have been held on Mt. Zion, near King David's Tomb.
The Vatican has demanded sovereignty over some 21 sites, including the Last Supper Room, while Israel has made clear it does not intend to relinquish ownership.
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