German-Israel negotiations for the return of German Protestant church property in the Jewish State will open in Geneva in mid-July, it was learned here today at the same time that terms of last week’s agreement on German Catholic property were made known.
The agreement on Catholic property, which must still be ratified by both the Bonn and Tel Aviv Governments, provides:
1. Israel will resign the confiscation of all German Catholic property used for religious purposes. This will include churches, a guest house at Tabigha on Lake Tiberias, the Dormition Abbey and the Church of Mt. Zion which was administered by German monks of the Benedictine Order.
2. The Israel Government will make a substantial financial contributions toward the restoration of the Abbey, which suffered some damage during the War of Liberation. The Israelis feel that such a contribution goes well beyond their legal obligation in the matter.
3. Part of the secular German Catholic property in Israel will be sold to the state, but the Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne and the German Society for the Holy Land will retain title to another part of the secular property while permitting its use by the Israel authorities for the time being. This property includes the “Schmidt School” in Jerusalem and some real estate in Haifa.
A mixed German-Israel commission working on the details of a German draft of regulations designed to implement the German reparations agreement with Israel will complete its work in Bonn tomorrow. Differences of opinion over certain legal points have prevented earlier conclusion of the talks, which began two weeks ago. As soon as agreement is reached on the regulations, orders for reparations goods will be placed by the Israel purchasing mission.
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