Church leaders accuse Israeli authorities of a “coordinated attack” on Christians by initiating tax proceedings, upsetting a centuries-old status quo.
Despite Israeli officials’ claims of routine financial matters, the churches see this as rising intolerance. In a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu, they allege that four municipalities have issued legal threats over unpaid taxes.
Heads of the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox churches wrote:
We believe these efforts represent a coordinated attack on the Christian presence in the Holy Land,”
“In this time, when the whole world, and the Christian world in particular, are constantly following the events in Israel, we find ourselves, once again, dealing with an attempt by authorities to drive the Christian presence out of the Holy Land.”
Christians, comprising less than 2% of the population in Israel and the Palestinian territories, include 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and 1,300 in Gaza, mostly Palestinians. Churches, major landowners, claim they are exempt from property taxes by tradition, using their funds for state-benefiting services like schools, hospitals, and elderly homes.
The municipalities of Tel Aviv, Ramla, Nazareth, and Jerusalem have recently issued warnings or begun legal action over alleged tax debts. Jerusalem claims the church hasn’t requested necessary tax exemptions for years and is in talks to collect debts on commercial properties.
Other municipalities didn’t comment, and it’s unclear if their actions are coordinated or coincidental. In 2018, Christians protested similar tax moves by closing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Christian leaders contended that taxing the locations, which included information centers and dormitories for pilgrims, would violate Christians’ right to observe their religion in the Holy Land and that they provided significant religious and cultural functions. Netanyahu promptly halted the idea following the outcry from the people.
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