The Jerusalem municipality has frozen all bank accounts belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem. According to Protecting Holy Land Christians, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is now unable to pay salaries to its clergy, teachers, and staff. Other churches face similar disputes. A court case brought against the Armenian Patriarchate by the Jerusalem municipality is set to be discussed in September.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, center, at the Church of the Nativity during Christian Orthodox Christmas Eve in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, January 6, 2023. (AP/Nasser Nasser)

By Rossella Tercatin

Today, 3:09 pm

The Jerusalem municipality has frozen all bank accounts belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, according to a statement from a group founded by Theophilos III, the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem.

“On Wednesday, August 6th, the Jerusalem Municipality unilaterally decided to freeze the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s bank account. It is our understanding that the reasoning behind this decision is related to the issue of Arnona,” property tax, the statement says.

The dispute between the municipality and several churches that hold property in Jerusalem has been going on for several years.

A decades-long agreement between the churches and the State of Israel had prevented the Jerusalem municipality from collecting property tax from Christian institutions.

However, in 2018, the city decided that the exemption for churches applied only to properties used “for prayer, for the teaching of religion or for needs arising from that” — excluding activities serving pilgrims such as guesthouses and coffee shops — and began to seek to collect bills for tens of millions of shekels.... READ MORE https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/jerusalem-freezes-greek-orthodox-patriarchates-bank-accounts-over-tax-dispute/