Israeli authorities have frozen all bank accounts of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem amid a property tax dispute, escalating tensions with Christian institutions in the occupied city, local media reported Thursday, amid Greece’s stance against Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
A statement by Protecting Holy Land Christians, a group founded by Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, said the freeze has left the Patriarchate unable to pay salaries to clergy, teachers, and staff.
The Times of Israel news outlet said the freeze, enacted on Aug. 6, stems from the Jerusalem Municipality’s push to collect Arnona, a property tax, on church-owned properties used for non-religious purposes, such as guesthouses and coffee shops.
The municipality claimed that the measure followed “efforts at dialogue and engagement” that failed because the Patriarchate “ignored letters from the municipality demanding payment.”
“Administrative enforcement measures were taken against the Greek Patriarchate because it failed to settle its property tax debts for assets not used as houses of worship,” its spokesperson office said.
“This was done despite efforts at dialogue and engagement with them, and in light of their ignoring letters from the municipality demanding payment.”
A decades-long agreement had historically exempted churches from such taxes, but in 2018, the city narrowed the exemption to properties used solely for prayer, religious teaching, or related needs, seeking tens of millions of shekels in back taxes.
The dispute echoes a 2018 clash when then-mayor Nir Barkat froze church accounts, prompting a three-day closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in protest. The municipality relented after intervention by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tensions have since flared periodically over specific properties and activities.
Israel also targeted the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza during its genocidal attacks.
There has been opposition to Israel’s genocidal attacks in Greece, with port workers protesting the arrival of Israelis, and the Athens mayor slamming Tel Aviv’s envoy, saying that Greece does not need lessons in democracy from those who kill civilians and children in food lines.
Anti-war protesters on Greece’s Cycladic island of Syros were the first to hold a demonstration against the docking of the Crown Iris, on July 22. The crowd of about 150 people chanted slogans and carried banners that read “Stop the Genocide” and “No a/c in hell” – a reference to the conditions Palestinians face in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years, and since March 2, 2025, it has closed all crossings, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and worsening conditions for the 2.4 million people who live in the enclave.
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