Culture Israel

The United States said Friday it has upgraded the protocol for the Palestinian mission in Washington in a symbolic show of confidence in president Mahmud Abbas.

President Barack Obama's administration will allow the mission to call itself the "General Delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization," a protocol level above its unofficial current status.

The step puts the United States, Israel's main ally, in accordance with the way European nations, Australia and Canada treat Palestinian missions, although the level is still short of being a full-fledged embassy.