Israeli government has no right to impose taxes on churches, Armenian Patriarchate says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Archimandrite of the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem Bagrat said that Christian churches and holy sites of Jerusalem exist for 2000 years, and an income tax has been imposed on them neither in the times of the Ottoman Empire, nor the British mandate.

The Israeli government’s decision is powerless, the Archimandrite told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to him, heads of all Christian churches of Jerusalem made statements against the decision.

Meanwhile, head of Hay Dat Jerusalem Office Georgetta Avakian noted that the decision is aimed against the Greek Orthodox church, as well as Arab Maronites.

“The Greek church and Arab Christians have serious discrepancies with the Israeli government, and they want to engage the Armenian Apostolic Church in their conflict,” Avakian said, adding that nobody is going to impose an income tax on Armenian churches of Jerusalem.