Greek Orthodox church sells Jerusalem land to Jewish investors

NIS 80 million deal solves capital’s leasing problems through 2051.

By Ranit Nahum-Halevy | Mar. 18, 2011 | 2:15 AM
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theofilis III.

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By David B. Green | Oct. 14, 2014 | 1:48 AM

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate sold most of its leasing rights to
large swaths of Jerusalem to a group of Jewish investors last week.
The NIS 80 million agreement puts an end to the long draw-out land
affair – at least for the next 140 years.

In the deal, signed March 10, the Patriarchate sold most of its rights
to lease the land it has held in Jerusalem to a group of Jewish
investors from Israel and abroad. The group includes the Ben David
family, one of the wealthiest in Jerusalem, who are large property
investors and partners in Givot Olam Oil Exploration.

The sale includes 85 parcels on hundreds of dunams of the capital’s
most expensive properties, including in the very pricey neighborhoods
of Rehavia, Talbieh, Baka and Katamon.

Hundreds of projects have been built on the land, including
residential, commercial and almost everything else. The properties
include the Wolfson Towers that overlook the Knesset building, the
Neve Granot neighborhood below the Israel Museum, Liberty Bell Park,
the Great Synagogue, the old Ottoman train stations, hotels, offices
and residences.

The Israel Lands Administration manages the Patriarchate’s properties,
in the name of the Jewish National Fund. The ILA and the Patriarchate
are signed on leasing agreements through 2051, but the ILA will sign
the renewed leases in the future with the group of Jewish investors.

Theofilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, signed the agreement
himself, along with his deputy for financial matters.

The deal will give the buyers the ownership rights on the new land as
of 2051, and they have already started talks with the ILA over the
conditions of the renewal of the leases in 2051.

The agreement has long-term political significance though it may not
make economic sense for the buyers, said property assessor Koby Bir.

“There are those who may say the amount [paid] is too low … But, the
investors bought the rights starting only another 40 years,” he said.
“Only then will they become the owners of the land and can sign the
agreements to renew the leases,” he said.

Bir said the deal was high risk. “No one promises that tomorrow
morning, or in a few years, the JNF will start making deals to renew
the leases,” he said. “But now the land is being managed by a group of
Jewish investors and the Palestinian threat has been removed. We have
already heard that the investors are chasing after the ILA, and [the
ILA] will not just let them make any amount they demand. The ILA is in
no hurry.”

Politics and parcels

The story goes all the way back to just after the founding of the
State of Israel. The Patriarchate, the historic owner of the land in
question, signed a leasing deal with the JNF. The new country needed
land to develop the new capital, but the Patriarchate adamantly
refused to sell any land, and instead only agreed to lease it out.

In 1952 the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate signed the deal which left it
with formal ownership of the properties, but all the rights to use and
develop the land were transfered through a long-term lease of 99 years
to the JNF, until 2051.

The original terms allowed the JNF to sublease the land to various
developers, which built on the properties – including thousands of
homes. But the original lease stated that the Patriarchate would once
again receive the full and sole rights to the properties when the
lease runs out in 2051.

To prevent a situation where the residents and others using the
properties would have to negotiate individually with the Patriarchate
in the future, the state carried on secret negotiations for decades in
an attempt to convince former Patriarch Diodoros I to agree to extend
the lease.

But political pressure, mostly from Palestinian groups, kept Diodoros
from signing. Israel was also worried that after the establishment of
the Palestinian Authority, the new body would reach an agreement with
the church over the land.

In early 2000, a deal was formulated by Jacob Weinroth, the attorney
representing the JNF. The new lease was to have been extended to 2150
in return for $20 million. The sides even signed a letter of intent,
but the deal was canceled shortly after with the Patriarchate claiming
the buyers had defrauded the church. Various repercussions from this
failed deal and the myriad accusations are still being heard in court.