The spiritual leaders of the Christian churches of Jerusalem – Armenian Patriarch Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, as well as the Greek Patriarch and the Custos of the Holy Land, on October 19 signed a joint letter addressed to Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, Koryun Baghdasaryan – Chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said on Facebook.

“In the letter the spiritual leaders are surprised over the fact that the bill authored by Knesset member Rachel Azaria on the properties belonging to the Christian community has been included in the agenda of October 21 discussion of the commission of ministers and call on PM Neyanyahu to intervene and suspend the discussion of the bill. The spiritual leaders called the bill shameful and reminded Netanyahu that in his letter sent to the spiritual leaders in July he assured that the bill should be withdrawn”, he said.

Despite that the bill has undergone some changes, it, however, enables the state to confiscate the church properties.