Leaders of the two largest Christian denominations in Jerusalem on Monday said the Church of the Holy Sepulchre will remain closed indefinitely to protest an Israeli attempt to tax their properties in the holy city. The church is one of Jerusalem's most venerable and popular holy sites.
Representatives of both the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches said they had been blindsided by the Jerusalem Municipality's recent decision to begin taxing them, and accused Mayor Nir Barkat of disrupting a longstanding and fragile status quo.
The municipality has clarified that the new policy does not apply to houses of worship, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but only to "commercial properties" owned by the churches, including hotels and office space. He said the churches have accumulated a municipal tax debt of roughly $185 million.
Anna Koulouris, an official in the chief secretariat's office of the Greek Patriarchate, said all major Christian denominations were united in their opposition to the Israeli move, which they called an unprecedented attack on Christians.
"They [the church representatives] are serious," she said. "They really want to see something change before they think about reopening the doors."
The church, situated in Jerusalem's Old City, is one of Christianity's holiest sites, revered as the spot where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. It is a popular destination for tourists and Christian pilgrims from around the world.
"We refuse to place the burden of subsidizing and bearing this huge debt on Jerusalem's residents any longer," Barkat said in a statement. He said that Jerusalem maintains a "good and respectful relationship" with all churches in the city.
But church representatives said Barkat's move was hasty and threatened to destroy this relationship, and warned that the sudden tax charge would jeopardize schools, health clinics and other vital services currently provided to their flocks.
Both Koulouris and Farid Jubran, a legal adviser to the Roman Catholic Church's custodian of holy sites, said the churches had never been formally notified of Barkat's decision and learned of it through the media.
Both officials said they did not know how the city even calculated their debts or decided which buildings to tax.
"We're talking about land with spiritual significance to people," Koulouris said. "Where do you draw the line?"
Jubran said the move was especially shocking because the church has good ties with Barkat and the mayor made no mention of the matter at a meeting weeks before the order was issued. Jubran said tax inspectors later arrived at a monastery and tried to seize property to collect debts until a lawyer stopped them.
"It absolutely took us by surprise," he said. "We wake up one morning and find the municipality took unilateral action without giving previous notice."
They said that there has been no contact with Barkat's office since the church was closed on Sunday but expressed hope the matter would be resolved.
"We believe everything can be resolved through dialogue," Jubran said.
He said Barkat's actions may have been politically motivated. Barkat has been feuding with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon over budgets and appears to be going after the churches to put pressure on the government to restore funding.
The churches are also upset over a proposal in the Knesset that would allow the government to appropriate lands in Israel sold by churches to anonymous buyers since 2010. The stated aim of the bill is to protect homeowners against the possibility that private companies will decline to extend the leases of land on which their houses or apartments stand.
The bill's sponsor, Kulanu MK Rachel Azaria, said these questionable sales have plunged thousands of Jerusalem residents into uncertainty over their homes and that the bill had "nothing whatsoever" to do with the churches. However, the legislation was put on hold on Sunday in the wake of the closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
"It is important to note that although the church will not be in any way affected by the bill, I have decided to delay deliberations on it by a week, to wait for calm to be restored," Azaria said.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday said she was hoping "that a solution can be found quickly. Jerusalem is a holy city to the three monotheistic religions. The special status and character of the city must be preserved and respected by all."
The churches are major property owners in the city. They say the law will make it harder for them to find buyers for lands they sell to help to cover operating costs of their religious institutions.
Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem voiced frustration and disappointment at the closure of the church.
Rebecca Santos, a tourist from the Philippines, said she was "very sad" to see the church closed.
"It is my second time to the Holy Land, and my expectation was to see [the church of] Jesus Christ, the Sepulchre," she said. "That's why I came here. ... I hope they will open it again for all of us."
