High Court Orders Jewish Tenants in Christian Quarter to Evacuate

The High Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Jewish tenants to evacuate buildings owned by the Greek Orthodox Church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City.

But it allowed the company holding the lease to retain control of the premises pending a lower court’s ruling on its proprietary rights.

The mixed decision handed down by a three-judge panel did not satisfy the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, which sought immediate repossession of the property. But it seemed to please the 150 Orthodox Jews, who took over the buildings known as St. John’s Hospice on April 11.

They were given until next Tuesday to leave, and they promised to comply. But as many as 20 of them may remain on the site, until final adjudication of the dispute over the lease.

The High Court stipulated that the Panamanian-registered company under whose name the lease was taken could appoint up to that number of “representatives” to take care of “maintenance and security” while the legality of the lease is being determined.

The decision also gratified an American Jewish umbrella body, which had expressed concern to acting Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir over the issue.

Seymour Reich, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, hailed the move by the Israeli judiciary, which, he said, “has again demonstrated its integrity and impartiality.”

EXTREME SENSITIVITY OF CASE

The justices urged the Jerusalem District Court, which is hearing the arguments, to expedite its deliberations because of the extreme sensitivity of the case.

Clearly, the emotion-laden atmosphere surrounding the affair has not been much relieved by the High Court’s action.

The Patriarchate said it would continue to seek immediate evacuation of its buildings and their restoration to church use.

A protest scheduled for Friday involving the major Christian denominations all over Israel is expected to proceed as planned.

Christian holy places in Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem, focal points for tourists and worshipers, will be closed for 24 hours, an unprecedented action.

Church bells will be tolled every hour on the hour between 9 a.m. and noon.

St. John’s Hospice is not a place of worship but living quarters. The occupation of the hospice, by singing, dancing, clapping Jewish religious activists, was nevertheless considered needlessly provocative, especially as it occurred on the holy days preceding Easter, the most sacred period of the Christian calendar.

The incident polarized Jewish opinion in Israel and abroad.

The High Court received affidavits from Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem and Regional Police Chief Rahamim Comfort, urging the swift evacuation of the settlers on grounds that their presence was a source of needless friction.

The criticism became more opprobrious after the Likud caretaker government was forced to admit Monday that its Construction and Housing Ministry had surreptitiously provided a good part of the $3.8 million used to purchase the lease from an Armenian tenant.

Ha’aretz reported Thursday that Israel’s ambassador in Washington, Moshe Arad, sent a strong warning to the government this week that the episode was causing “unprecedented damage to Israel’s position in the United States and is threatening our most important asset — Jerusalem.”

The government has defended its role, claiming it was a perfectly normal real estate transaction.

But that apparently did not impress some of Israel’s most consistent supporters in the American Jewish community.

According to Ha’aretz, leaders of organized American Jewry are united in their condemnation of the settlement in the Christian Quarter and the government’s handling of it.