Netanyahu considering transferring disputed Orthodox Church land to Russia
01.11.2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to the consideration of the issue of transferring the Alexander farmstead to Russia, Sergei Stepashin, Chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society (IPPO), told RIA Novosti. "Despite the war, Netanyahu returned to the work of the so-called working group. It works, we have all the materials, they are now being studied, and there are no legal grounds not to recognize this property of the state today," Stepashin said. Earlier, the agency reminds, the chairman of the IPPO reported that the process of transferring the farmstead "stooze" because of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, but was not removed from the agenda.
The procedure for re-registration of the Aleksandrovsky farmstead to the Russian Federation was officially launched by the Ministry of Justice of Israel on December 31, 2019. But in April 2020, the Jerusalem District Court was forced to temporarily suspend the transfer of rights to the Alexander farmstead to Russia in connection with the lawsuit of the Orthodox Palestinian Society of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR), which opposes the transfer of ownership of the Jerusalem facility to Russia. The Orthodox Palestinian society, based on the fact that the ROCOR was the only successor of the Russian Church outside Russia after the 1917 revolution, claims that it is the legitimate owner of the Alexander farmstead, referring at the same time to the decision of the New York court of 1991. Having become a hostage of the dispute between two Orthodox structures, the Jerusalem District Court eventually ruled that this object is a religious shrine, and therefore the court cannot decide on the rights to its property, transferring the decision of this issue to the discretion of the Israeli government.
The topic of the return of the Alexander farmstead has been repeatedly raised in the negotiations between Israel and Russia at the highest level. In particular, in April 2022, President Vladimir Putin sent a letter with a corresponding request to Naftali Bennett, who held the position of Prime Minister of the Jewish state at that time. But soon Bennett's coalition disintegrated, the Knesset was dissolved and re-elections, and the issue with the Alexander farmstead remained unresolved.
Alexander's farmstead is located in the Old City of Jerusalem. Podvorye is an archaeological and architectural complex. The land where the complex is located was acquired in 1859 by Emperor Alexander III. The complex itself was built by the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society in 1896.