Horse Trading: Israel and the Greek Orthodox Ecclesiastical Property, 1948–1952

Abstract

The new State of Israel's desire to assert control over the bulk of the territory within its borders conflicted with the claims of the various church organizations to legal and historic rights over property in the state. The ideal solution, as far as Jerusalem was concerned, was to engineer a settlement with church organizations which, on the one hand, would minimize political damage and, on the other—and this was far more important—would imply de jure recognition by the Christian world of the new situation in Palestine after the 1948 war. This envisaged solution was totally at odds with the manifest interest of the Christian world in protecting its rights and assets in the Holy Land. Consequently, Israel's path to achieving its objectives was by no means smooth, as the article demonstrates by its analysis of the negotiations with the Greek Orthodox Church.

Acknowledgements

This article is taken from my forthcoming book Cross on the Star of David: The Christian World in Israel's Foreign Policy 1948–67 (Indiana University Press, 2005). I am grateful to Janet Rabinowitch, the Press Director, for granting me permission to use material from this book.

Notes

 [1] On the subject, see Kark, “Planning, Housing and Land Policy”; Golan, Shinui merhavi; and Oren-Nordheim, “Gibush ha-mediniyut.” For the historical background, see Doukhan-Landau, Ha-havarot ha-tziyoniyot ; Stein, The Land Question in Palestine ; Kark, Ge'ulat ha-karka ; and Katz, The Battle for the Land .

 [2] See Golan, Shinui merhavi , 12–19, and Oren-Nordheim, “Gibush ha-mediniyut,” 65.

 [3] See references to this subject by the Israeli finance minister during a meeting with the Lutheran World Federation, 26 January 1950, Israel State Archives, Jerusalem (hereafter ISA), 2468/8.

 [4] Haim Kadmon to the finance minister, 28 November 1951, ISA 395/24.

 [5] For another case study see Yaroshevski, “Beyond the ‘Russian Property’ Discourse.”

 [6] See inter alia Bertram and Luke, Report ; Tsimhoni, “The Greek Orthodox Patriarch”; Roussos, “The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate”; Biger, “Ha-mediniyut veha-pe'ilut”; Kark and Oren-Nordheim, Yerushalayim ve-svivoteha ; Ben-Arieh, Eretz bi-re'i avarah .

 [7] On this subject, see an illuminating memorandum, dated 21 January 1958, Foreign Office Records, Public Record Office, London (hereafter PRO, FO), 371/133893.

 [8] For the negotiations during the mid-1930s between the Jewish Agency and the Greek Orthodox Church concerning land purchases, see Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem (hereafter CZA), L18/827.

 [9] For an ownership map of lands in Jerusalem on the wake of the British Mandate and its analysis see Reichman, “Mapat ba'aluyot ha-karka.”

[10] See memorandum, 21 January 1958, PRO FO 371/133893.

[11] See correspondence in CZA L18/827, CZA L18/689, and ISA 8023/17.

[12] See Hugh Dow's notes, 8 January 1951, PRO FO 371/91398. Dow was Consul General of the United Kingdom in Jerusalem. On the Christian Greek Orthodox community, see Tsimhoni, “The Greek Orthodox Patriarach.”

[13] See correspondence during November 1951, PRO FO 371/91398.

[14] For information on Greek Orthodox property, see Saul Colbi to Gershon Avner, 6 June 1950, ISA 2411/16, and his memorandum, dated 10 January 1950, ISA 2395/28.

[15] See the Cabinet Secretary to the Finance Minister, 25 July 1950, ISA 2395/28.

[16] See correspondence in ISA 2395/24.

[17] For illustration see Colbi to Herzog, 13 March 1950, ISA 5823/9.

[18] See Israel Zipper's report, 23 May 1950, ISA 5803/6.

[19] Ibid.

[20] See Bialer, “The Road to the Capital”; and Golani, “Zionism without Zion.”

[21] See Reichman, “Mapat ba'aluyot ha-karka.”

[22] For an early expression of this effort, see Herzog to Avner, 22 September 1949, ISA 5824/4. On Greece's policy towards Israel, see Gilboa, “Ha-reka veha-pe'ilut.” For the beginnings of these relations, see Nachmani, Israel, Turkey, and Greece .

[23] See Herzog to the prime minister, 7 September 1949, ISA 7854/6.

[24] See minutes of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, 6 May 1950, ISA.

[25] See a dispatch from Dow to the Foreign Office, 9 February 1950, PRO FO 371/182183.

[26] Katz and Paz, “The Transfer of Government Ministries.”

[27] See Colbi's memorandum, 19 January 1950, ISA 2395/28; and Herzog to the prime minister, 7 September 1949, ISA 7854/6.

[28] See Colbi to Walter Eytan, 2 December 1949, ISA 2396/2; Shabtai Rosenne to the Finance Minister's Bureau, 29 December 1949, ISA 2395/24; and Colbi's memorandum, 19 January 1950, ISA 2395/28.

[29] The following is based on Dow's dispatch to the Foreign Office, 20 September 1950, PRO FO 371/82189; Herzog undated dispatch to Haim Kadmon (probably November 1951), and Herzog to Avner, 12 November 1950, both in ISA 2395/24.

[30] See “Information for Israeli Legations Abroad,” 128, 16 October 1950, ISA 7854/4.

[31] Herzog to Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett, 29 November 1950, ISA 2395/24.

[32] Ibid.

[33] The following is based on Dow's dispatch to Geoffrey Furlonge, head of Eastern Department at British Foreign Office, 8 January 1951, PRO FO 371/91398.

[34] See Herzog to Avner, 17 May 1951, ISA 2523/8.

[35] See Herzog to Avraham Granot, 15 July 1951, ISA 2523/8.

[36] Ibid.

[37] 16 April 1951, ISA 2523/8.

[38] Moisis to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 25 July 1951, ISA 5803/10.

[39] See Herzog to Avner, 5 August 1951, ISA 2523/8.

[40] See his dispatch to Lourie, 5 April 1951, ISA 2396/2.

[41] The following is based on Dow to the Foreign Office, 15 October 1951, PRO FO 371/93189, and correspondence in CZA KKL/23237.

[42] See “Information for Israeli Legations Abroad,” 408, 28 November 1951, ISA 7536/3.

[43] See a dispatch from the British Consul in Jerusalem to the Foreign Office, 16 November 1951, PRO FO 371/91398.

[44] Ibid., and his dispatch of 5 August 1952, PRO FO 371/98501.

[45] See Herzog to the Ministry for Religious Affairs, 18 November 1951, ISA 7536/5.

[46] See a dispatch from the British Consul in Jerusalem to the Foreign Office, 16 November 1951, PRO FO 371/91398.

[47] See Colbi to the Director General of the Ministry for Religious Affairs, 21 November 1955, ISA 5803/13.

[48] Colbi to the Division of Western Europe, 15 July 1954, ISA 2523/8.

[49] July 1952, ISA 2396/2.

[50] See “Information for Israeli Legations Abroad,” 408, 28 November 1951, ISA 7536/3.

[51] Colbi to Reif, 28 December 1952, ISA 5803/12.

[52] Golda Meir to the Minister for Religious Affairs, 19 November 1959, ISA 3107/9.

[53] See Zipper's memorandum 23 May 1950, ISA 5803/6.

[54] On the broad subject, see Bialer, “Top Hat, Tuxedo and Cannons.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Uri Bialer

Uri Bialer is Professor of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Correspondence to: Uri Bialer, Department of International Relations, Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel; [email protected]