The Israeli authorities are resuming judicial pressure on the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and other Christian churches in the city, seeking to impose municipal taxes on them. The Patriarchate has expressed deep disappointment and sent a petition to the Israeli authorities requesting a review of the decision and the cancellation of the court hearings scheduled for September 29.
This situation is a continuation of the conflict that erupted back in February. At that time, the Jerusalem municipality accused the Armenian Patriarchate of non-payment of taxes, allegedly accumulated since 1994, and even intended to confiscate property that had belonged to the diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church for centuries.
Initially, the authorities informed the Patriarchate that there were no plans for legal proceedings on this issue, offering an out-of-court settlement through a special committee established in 2018 for dialogue between the Government of Israel and the religious communities of the Holy Land. The Patriarchate welcomed this approach.
However, as stated in the appeal, the authorities changed their decision and scheduled new hearings for September 29. This caused a sharp rejection by the Patriarchate.
“Such a decision raises serious doubts about the authorities’ readiness for dialogue through the government committee established specifically for this purpose,” the Patriarchate’s statement said.
The Armenian Patriarchate calls on the Israeli authorities to freeze all legal proceedings and resume out-of-court dialogue through the aforementioned committee. The petition contains an appeal to the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, the Minister of the Interior Moshe Arbel, and the head of the committee Tzachi Hanegbi, calling on them to protect Christian churches from unilateral administrative pressure.
