The hearing for the administrative petition (ATM 1470-02-24) filed by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is set for Monday, February 24, 2025. This petition was filed as an attempt to stop the foreclosure process against real estate properties that the Patriarchate has owned for centuries, so as to collect Arnona (Municipal Tax) debts that have allegedly accrued since 1994.
If, God forbidding, the Patriarchate's petition is denied, the Jerusalem Municipality will seize real estate properties belonging to the Patriarchate and put them up for auction in order to collect allegedly disputed debts that have never been proven in judicial proceedings, and through customary practices heretofore, have never been enforced.
The petition is aimed at the actions of the collection officer—an employee of the Jerusalem Municipality—who has 'determined' that the Patriarchate owes an astronomical debt, without regard for the statute of limitations, and without providing clear identification of the basis for the alleged debt. Furthermore, a significant portion of the alleged debt relates to a property that is actually leased to the Jerusalem Municipality itself.
The same municipal employee refuses to review the validity of the debt he himself determined, citing formal-procedural grounds that the deadline for objection has passed. However, we have shown that the demands were never properly delivered to the Patriarchate within the required time frame. Despite this, the employee has issued a foreclosure order for the Patriarchate’s properties to collect the debt he has determined, and the enforcement authority is required to comply with this order as though it were a court ruling.
In other words, the municipal employee acts as the plaintiff, the judge, and the executor, all in one, serving the interests of his employer—the Municipality.
Therefore, the Patriarchate has filed an administrative petition against both the Jerusalem Municipality and its collection officer, with a hearing scheduled for February 24, 2025.
Upon filing the petition, enforcement proceedings were temporarily suspended. However, should the petition be denied, not only will the Municipality be permitted to immediately resume foreclosure on specific properties, but it will also establish a dangerous legal precedent that could legitimize the expropriation of property rights and the involuntary liquidation of assets belonging to Christian religious institutions and communities in Israel. This would result in far greater harm to the property owners than the amount of the alleged disputed debts.
To the best of our knowledge, the Armenian Patriarchate is the only Christian community selected—and possibly targeted—to face such unprecedented and irreversible measures for the alleged Arnona debt.
The conduct of the Jerusalem Municipality in this matter is especially inappropriate, as it initiated this aggressive process despite the Municipality itself owing the Patriarchate millions of shekels in overdue rental fees. However, the Patriarchate has refrained from taking legal action to enforce payment and, instead, has been engaged in prolonged negotiations with the Municipality in an effort to resolve the debt amicably.
The conduct of the Jerusalem Municipality in this matter is also particularly inappropriate, as this aggressive process was initiated despite the establishment of a governmental committee in 2018 by Israeli Prime Minister Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, and chaired by then-Minister Tzachi Hanegbi. The committee was tasked with finding solutions to the Arnona issue through negotiation and cooperation with the Heads of Christian Communities in the Holy Land. This committee remains active and has held several productive meetings, yielding positive outcomes.
Filing against the Armenian Patriarchate in the execution office, forcing it to pay the alleged Arnona debt, and, even more so, proceeding with the foreclosure of its properties, could jeopardize the Armenian Patriarchate’s long-standing mission in the Holy Land, which has been active since the 7th century. Furthermore, it could threaten the continued presence of the Armenian community in the Holy Land, which dates back to the 4th century.
This is a clear attempt by the Municipality to undermine the Armenian Patriarchate through singling it out with economic pressure, with the aim of diminishing its presence in the Holy Land. Any court judgment regarding the alleged Arnona debt would set a dangerous precedent, extending its applicability to other Christian communities. This could have a profoundly negative impact on the overall Christian presence in the Holy Land, as well as on the religious, cultural, educational and ministerial activities of all Christian institutions currently operating in the region.
We call upon the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Interior Minister, Mr. Moshe Arbel, and the head of the governmental committee, Mr. Tzachi Hanegbi, to intervene decisively and immediately freeze all actions taken by the Municipality against the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. We also urge them to resume the meetings of this governmental committee in order to find an amicable resolution to this issue, solely through negotiation within the framework established by the committee.
