Russia and Israel squabble over land in Jerusalem held by Orthodox Church
Russia and Israel will discuss Aleksandrovsky Podvorye
A meeting at the ministerial level between Russia and Israel is scheduled for October this year, during which the countries will return to the discussion of the possibility of transferring the Orthodox Alexander farm located in Jerusalem to Russia, Ynet reports.
As noted in the publication, this issue appeared as one of the topics of conversations in recent telephone conversations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Recall that last year Benjamin Netanyahu returned to the consideration of the issue of transferring the Alexander farmstead to Russia, the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society (IPPO) Sergei Stepashin reported at the time. "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 then. Earlier, he reported that the process of transferring the farmstead "hovered" due to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
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 (PPO) of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR), which opposes the transfer of ownership of the Jerusalem facility in Russia. This Orthodox Palestinian society, based on the fact that the ROCOR turned out to be the only successor of the Russian Church outside Russia after the revolution of 1917, 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. And then there was an attack on Israel by the Hamas terrorist group, and it was not up to that.
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.
Source: https://stmegi.com/posts/129091/rossiya-i-izrail-obsudyat-aleksandrovskoe-podvore/