World Jewish leaders join Greek Patriarch debate
By Annette Young
May 23, 2003 (Haaretz) -- The World Jewish Congress (WJC) this week urged the government to approve the confirmation of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irineos I, arguing that a decision to confirm the the country's most powerful Christian clergyman would improve interfaith relations.
At a WJC executive meeting in Jerusalem, the organization's chairman, Israel Singer, said the WJC was working with organizations including the American Jewish Committee in the hopes of encouraging the government to issue its approval.
Patriarch Irineos was crowned in August 2001, following a bitter and hard-fought campaign. He has still not been approved by the government even though all other governments in the area, the Palestinian Authority and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan approved his election and blessed his coronation.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon tried to gain government approval for the election but has failed following pressure of ministers from the right as Irineos is accused of having close ties with the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat.
"We believe it would be good to recognize the Patriarch as it would help interfaith relations," Singer told Anglo File, while adding that the WJC accepted that "the decision has to be made on behalf of Israeli interests."
Singer and other WJC leaders raised the matter in a meeting on Tuesday with government minister Natan Sharansky, a member of a ministerial committee looking into the issue.
Sharansky told Anglo File afterward that the matter, following dissent within the committee, was now with the Prime Minister's Office and that "lawyers were still investigating the issue."
"Of course, it is in our interest to have normal working relations with the leaders of the churches but it is also that those who represent these churches are working constructively with Israeli authorities and not trying to undermine Israeli interests," Sharansky said.
Another serious element in the importance of who sits as the Patriarch is that the Greek Orthodox Church is the owner of vast amounts of property in Israel, valued at tens of billions of dollars.
Irineos also came under attack last year from his Arab supporters following allegations that he had signed a letter, promising to transfer ownership of church property in Jerusalem to Israeli authorities. Irineos has vehemently denied the letter's existence.
Singer's comments were welcomed by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem. "We hope to hear soon that there will be a solution," Archbishop Aristarchos of Costantina told Anglo File. "We very much appreciate these efforts and hope all this activity will contribute to help find a solution to the problem."
Next Tuesday, Singer, along with other Jewish leaders, will meet Greek Orthodox representatives at a pan-Orthodox Jewish summit in the Greek northern city of Salonika.
Among those attending the summit will be Rabbi David Rosen, director of inter-religious affairs for the American Jewish Committee. "The government has shot itself in the foot by withholding approval of the Patriarch," he said. "I hope it will be resolved as quickly as possible."
