2 weeks ago - In December 2022, the patriarchate ... East Jerusalem by Israeli settler groups, warning that such actions threatened the Christian presence in the Holy Land. In August 2025, the patriarchate faced another financial and political crisis when Israeli authorities froze all of its bank accounts over a disputed Arnona (property tax) bill. Officials claimed that the church owed taxes on several ...

August 18, 2025 - According to a longstanding arrangement between Jerusalem's churches and the state, the churches are exempt from municipal tax. But the Jerusalem municipality argues that it has the right to collect tax on church assets that aren't used for ...

August 14, 2025 - “Administrative enforcement measures were taken against the Greek Patriarchate because it failed to settle its property tax debts for assets not used as houses of worship,” its spokesperson office said.

In attempt to end longstanding dispute, Jerusalem Municipality orders JNF and Greek Orthodox Patriarchate to jointly pay outstanding taxes

August 19, 2025 - “The church leaders argue that they have never paid municipal or governmental taxes during the periods of Ottoman, British, Jordanian, and Israeli rule,” advocacy group Protecting Holy Land Christians said in a statement.

December 22, 2025 - “The church leaders argue that they have never paid municipal or governmental taxes during the periods of Ottoman, British, Jordanian, and Israeli rule,” advocacy group Protecting Holy Land Christians said in a statement.

August 14, 2025 - “Because of this, historically, the churches have never paid municipal or governmental taxes for church properties whether during the periods of Ottoman, British, Jordanian, or Israeli rule.” · According to Protecting Holy Land Christians, ...

August 14, 2025 - The Jerusalem Municipality’s reason for freezing all bank accounts belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem is that the latter ignored letters from the city about its tax debts, the municipality says, responding to a query by The Times of Israel.

August 15, 2025 - The Jerusalem municipality has frozen all bank accounts belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem over unpaid property taxes, leaving the religious institution unable to pay salaries to clergy, teachers, and staff.

August 19, 2025 - JERUSALEM — The Israeli authorities’ decision to freeze the bank accounts of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and impose heavy taxes on its properties has ignited widespread outrage among church and political circles.

August 18, 2025 - Historically, churches in the Holy Land have never paid either municipal or government taxes on their properties; this held true for centuries, throughout the periods of Ottoman, British, Jordanian and Israeli rule over Jerusalem.

November 23, 2017 - Around NIS 100 million ($28.4) of the debt that Theophilus inherited in 2005 came from unpaid property taxes, inflated by interest, on some 1,000 dunams (250 acres) of its land near the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox monastery, located in southeast ...

August 26, 2025 - The measure, imposed on August 6, prevents the Patriarchate from paying clergy, teachers, and employees across its schools, monasteries, and charitable institutions. It also aggravates the decades-long struggle over land ownership, taxation, and the political weight carried by churches whose roots predate the modern State of Israel by centuries. At the heart of the confrontation lies “Arnona,” Jerusalem’s property tax.

August 14, 2025 - "Administrative enforcement measures were taken against the Greek Patriarchate because it failed to settle its property tax debts for assets not used as houses of worship,” its spokesperson office said.

March 12, 2018 - The municipality ultimately hopes ... Patriarchate — own vast swaths of land in Jerusalem and elsewhere, tax policy has both religious and practical implications, said David Kroyanker, an expert on Jerusalem's multicultural ...

August 15, 2025 - “The Jerusalem Municipality has unilaterally decided to freeze the bank account of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In our view, the reasoning behind this decision is linked to property tax,” the statement said.

File - 4 : Patriarchal loan bonds. Accounts and ledgers. File - 4 : List of Christians in various villages for the head taxes.

August 15, 2025 - Israeli authorities have frozen all bank accounts of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem over a long-standing property tax dispute.

July 30, 2017 - It also enabled the patriarchate to pay off some of its other debts. The first concerned a NIS 100 million ($28 million) tax bill on church lands belonging to the Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Elias, between Jerusalem and Bethehem.

March 13, 2025 - The local government issued an order of foreclosure against the Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which, if successful, would result in the takeover of the Church’s property by the Municipality, due to alleged unpaid taxes.