The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Occupied Jerusalem has been quietly selling off its properties in various parts of the country to companies hidden in tax shelters.
According to Haaretz newspaper several properties were sold at very low prices that one wonders whether the Church is trying to get rid of its assets at any cost.
For example an anonymous company registered in a tax shelter paid $3.3 million for 240 apartments a commercial center and open areas in the center of Jerusalem.
The deal for what appears to be a ridiculously low price was made by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem the second largest real estate owner in Israel after the Israel Lands Authority Haaretz said
While the reason for the numerous sales and the low price remain a mystery three agreements obtained by Haaretz shed some light on the transactions. For example the lands sold in Jerusalem have meanwhile been resold to another company also registered in a tax shelter. Also some six dunums near the Clock Tower square in Jaffa consisting of dozens of businesses have been sold for a mere $1.5 million and 430 dunums in Caesarea including large parts of the national park and amphitheater were sold for only $1 million.
All the purchasers are foreign companies registered in tax shelters so it is impossible to obtain information about their owners. In a few decades when the existing leases for those lands expire their fate will be determined by those unknown purchasers.
The church bought or acquired most of its lands during the 19th century. Traditionally the Church did not sell its lands but leased them out usually for 99 years to public bodies like the Jewish National Fund or the Israel Lands Authority.
About six years ago under the leadership of Patriarch Theophilos III the Jerusalem Patriarchate made several land deals with private companies reducing its lands considerably. As far as is known the Church has sold off most of its lands in Jerusalem and part of its lands in Jaffa Caesarea Ramle Nazareth and Tiberias as well as individual buildings and apartments in Jerusalem and Jaffa.
The first large contract appears to have been signed in 2011 when the Church leased hundreds of dunums in the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Talbieh Rehavia and Nayot to a group of Israeli entrepreneurs named Nayot Komemiyut. About a year ago a contract was made to sell all those lands to the same group of entrepreneurs now called “Nayot-Komemiyut Investments.” The only entrepreneur in the group who was identified was businessman Noam Ben David.
The two deals raised a panic among some 1000 apartment owners in those neighborhoods who risk losing their homes. Under the law when the lease expires in about 30 years these lands and apartments will be transferred to the new landlords and the residents will lose their property. In addition real-estate prices in these areas have plummeted due to these deals which makes it impossible for the residents to sell the properties.
After the Jerusalem deal was publicized other real estate deals of the church came to light. Some Patriarchate insiders mainly in the Jaffa and northern communities as well as in Jordan and the Palestinian Authority were furious.
They blasted the deals as “corrupt and destructive to the Church’s status and ability to act on behalf of the Greek Orthodox community in Israel.” Recently the opponents have called for boycotting the patriarch and removing him from his post.
“We see the sale as an act of annihilating the Christian-Orthodox existence in Israel” Victor Zakak head of the Christian Orthodox charity organization in Jaffa said last month.
“The land has been sold to all kinds of shell companies fictitious non-existent bodies” he said.
According to the sales contracts obtained by Haaretz the church sold properties in Jerusalem’s Givat Oranim to Kronti Investments Ltd. a company registered in the Virgin Islands for $3.3 million dollars. The properties consist of 27 dunums of land some 240 apartments and a large commercial center. One small apartment in this area can easily fetch 2 million shekels (about $570000 dollars).
Although the lease on this area will expire only in 52 years the residents are already impacted by the deal.
“As soon as the deal was made public prices dropped sometimes by as much as 60 percent” one of the residents said. “The property is impossible to sell. I bought the house for the full price without knowing there was any problem and now I’ll be left with nothing.”
Meanwhile the landlord seems to have changed again. Five years after the first deal the land has been sold again this time to a company called Oranim Limited registered in the Cayman Islands. It is not known how much Oranim paid for the land.
In another deal signed in December 2013 six dunums of valuable commercial sites near Jaffa’s Clock Tower as well as dozens of shops and apartments on Yefet Beit Eshel and Shimon Hatzadik streets were sold for $1.5 million to Bona Trading Ltd. a company registered in Saint Vincent and Grenadines in the Caribbean Sea.
“This isn’t a sale it’s a theft” Peter Habash an activist in the Jaffa Christian Orthodox community said. “When you sell an asset for a fraction of its worth it doesn’t make sense.”
In August 2015 Senet Ventures inc. bought 430 dunums from the Church in Caesarea in the most expensive area in Israel for $1 million.
