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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel suspends taxation legislation for Jerusalem's churches |
| 2018-02-28 |
| [Al Jazeera] The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has announced it will reopen its doors after Israel decided to suspend legislation regarding collecting taxes from churches and their properties in Jerusalem. Following international pressure and rising protests from Paleostinian Christians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the formation of a committee to discuss the imposition of the property tax, or arnona, on Jerusalem's churches. The decision came following a meeting between Netanyahu and the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barakat, and after one of the holiest sites in Christianity, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, closed its doors on Sunday in protest against the proposed legislation. The committee will be headed by Tzachi Hanegbi, the Israeli minister of regional cooperation. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 #1 & #2 - Ouch. My guess is that the tax savings from churches and their properties in Jerusalem is pumped back into various charitable purposes, with lite-graft. The committee needs to focus on the revenue gleaned and the charity given. |
| Posted by: Fairbanks 2018-02-28 23:35 |
| #2 Do we have a pic of Henry VIII? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2018-02-28 15:23 |
| #1 The taxation is on the rental and commercial properties the various Christian churches own in and around Jerusalem, including the land on which the Knesset, Israel’s parliament sits, and on sales to private developers. The legislation would extend to the churches the same treatment meted out to synagogues. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2018-02-28 11:58 |