Foreign Ministry won't accept 'Palestine' missives

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The Foreign Ministry has instructed all of Israel's embassies to reject any official letter that includes what it referred to as problematic terms, such as the "state of Palestine,' Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth have learned.

On Thursday the UN General Assembly is expected to accept the Palestinian Authority's request to upgrade its status to that of a non-member observer state, but the Foreign Ministry is not waiting until the vote to protest the initiative.

The directive was distributed among Israeli embassies abroad by Foreign Ministry employee Galia Levanon, who said Israeli embassies have been receiving official letters from international organizations and local foreign ministries that include the phrases "occupied Palestine," "occupied Jerusalem," "occupied territories" and "the state of Palestine."

Levanon instructed Israeli diplomats abroad to return any letters containing "problematic terminology" to the sender and ask that they be revised. The embassies were told to accept letters containing the phrase "Palestinian Authority territories."

Foreign Ministry won't accept 'Palestine' missives - Israel News, Ynetnews

An action Israeli governments should have taken years ago.