Posted on 02/28/2018 8:19:01 PM PST by richardtavor
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the holiest sites for Christians in the Old City of Jerusalem, reopened on Wednesday after a three-day strike led by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate who claimed they were responding to anti-Christian measures by the Israeli government. This could not be further from the truth.
“This has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with money,” said Aryeh King, founder of the Israel Land Fund, to Breaking Israel News. “The Israeli government is simply saying ‘pay your taxes.’”
The Israel Land Fund is an organization that acquires land in Israel for Jews. King has served as a Jerusalem councilman for several years and is very familiar with land sales in the Old City.
(Excerpt) Read more at breakingisraelnews.com ...
Do synagogues in Israel pay taxes on property used for non-worship purposes? Do mosques? What’s the root of the disagreement?
The Greek Orthodox Church owns a lot of land in the West Bank because the only way the land could be protected from seizure by the Ottomans was for private individuals to deed it to the church (on paper).
Today that creates a lot of problems if the church is fronting for private individuals. OTOH, since there is a law in place (in Jordan) mandating the death penalty for anyone selling land to a Jew, this “fronting” provides a way for land to be sold by the “church”, not an individual.
Title issues are therefore a mess.
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Yes. The Churches prefer not to pay the tax as they didn’t under the Ottomans. This controversy has been going on since Israel’s founding.
Yes, and churches do too, except in Jerusalem. The ideological dispute is whether Jerusalem is under the sovereignty of the State of Israel and whether laws that apply in the State of Israel also apply in the City of Jerusalem.
“13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”...Romans 13, by St. Paul.
A Christian, if I recall correctly! :-)
Yes, they do. However, there is practically no Synagogue property that is not being used for religious purposes. In other words, I am not aware of any businesses that they own. To understand this, recognize that there has to be thousands of Synagogues, Temples, Yeshivas, Schools and Shuls just in Jerusalem alone. I have spent much time there and can not remember a property that is not in use currently for that purpose. However, I am aware of many properties that are owned by Churches that have not been used at all for decades or centuries. What they have done is to recognize that value has gone un-monetized and the Church needs money. So, it is simple to sell the properties. The question is that if the land is not used or never will be used for religious purposes, then why should it not have to pay taxes when it monetized? If you really want to know how cynical this is, the Church of the Nativity has had to pay taxes (tribute or jizyah) to the Muslims for centuries in order to pay for “protection”. Now they pay the PA. However, you don’t see the Church raising hell with the Palestinian Authority, do you? It is disappointing to play the persecution card with the International community in order to maintain the status quo in Israel. When you talk to Palestinians that are not under scrutiny by the PA, they will tell you that their biggest fear is being controlled by the Palestinian’s Government.
Thanks richardtavor.
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