The Pope’s envoy to Israel and the Palestinian territories is leaving after eight years of service in the Holy Land during which he was instrumental in warming relations between the Vatican and the Jewish state. The Pope’s envoy to Israel and the Palestinian territories is leaving after eight years of service in the Holy Land during which he was instrumental in warming relations between the Vatican and the Jewish state. Italian Archbishop Pietro Sambi heads to Washington where he will serve as the Vatican’s new papal nuncio to the United States. “We are losing a good friend today,” said Israeli tourism minister Avraham Hirchson at a farewell reception for Sambi earlier in the week.