RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli Supreme Court earlier this month ruled against an appeal by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate to rescind a deal to lease three of its real estate properties in Jerusalem’s Old City to Ateret Cohanim, a pro-settlement organization working to establish a Jewish majority in East Jerusalem. The court's June 10 ruling validated Ateret Cohanim's leasing of the properties through three front companies for a renewable 99-year period.

The deal, signed in 2004, was made public in 2005, when Maariv published an article on the lease of the church-owned Petra Hotel and Imperial Hotel, located on Umar Ibn al-Khattab Plaza at Jaffa Gate, and Muzamiya House, in Bab al-Huta neighborhood, north of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Patriarch Iranaios was relieved of his position in May 2005 and demoted to the rank of monk after being accused of permitting the transfer of the properties to the Israelis through former finance director Nikolas Papadimos, who held power of attorney and signed the deals.

In 2008, Ateret Cohanim filed a lawsuit against the patriarchate, demanding that it turn over the properties as stipulated in the agreements. The Jerusalem District Court issued a ruling in July 2017 upholding the deal, and later that year, in October, the patriarchate appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the church had failed to prove that the deal had been reached fraudulently either through the actions of Iranaios, Papadimos or Ateret Cohanim.

The most recent decision raised the ire of the Palestinian Orthodox community at the patriarchate. In a joint statement on June 14, the Orthodox Central Council, the committee following up on the 2017 National Conference to Support the Arab-Orthodox Cause, and the Arab-Orthodox Youth movement called for a committee of inquiry to try to counter the risks and repercussions of the Jaffa Gate deal and to hold to account those involved in it, including the church's lawyers.