Israel put proposed taxes on church-owned property in Jerusalem on hold after top Christian clerics in the city closed the venerated Church of the Holy Sepulchre to protest the planned levies.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that a professional team would meet with church representatives to find a solution regarding municipal taxation of church assets that aren’t houses of worship.
In the meantime, “the Jerusalem municipality is suspending the collection actions it has taken in recent weeks,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. The Jerusalem municipality had recently issued orders to tax commercial church properties such as hotels, saying they shouldn’t enjoy the same tax breaks that houses of worship do.
There was no immediate comment from leaders of the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic churches in Jerusalem, who on Sunday took the unprecedented step of shuttering the Holy Sepulchre to protest the proposed change in the status quo. They released a letter accusing Israel of conducting a “systematic and offensive campaign” against Christians and trying to “weaken the Christian presence in Jerusalem.”
The allegations put Israel, which prides itself on being a haven for Christians in the Middle East, on the defensive.
The Holy Sepulchre, built at the place where Christian tradition holds that Jesus was crucified and buried, is Christianity’s holiest site. It remained closed on Tuesday, and earlier in the day, hundreds had gathered outside to protest the proposed taxes.
The statement from Netanyahu’s office said an Israeli cabinet minister will also examine issues surrounding the sale of leased church land. After the church was shuttered, cabinet ministers postponed discussion of a draft law that would allow the state to expropriate such land on the ground that such sales expose homeowners to potential eviction or significantly higher land lease costs.
