RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli Jerusalem District Court rejected June 24 the appeal submitted by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate on June 23 to block the transfer of church property to an Israeli settlement association. The court had earlier issued a ruling asserting the validity of a renewable deal whereby the settlement association Ateret Cohanim rented properties from the Orthodox Church in Bab al-Khalil in Jerusalem for a period of 99 years. 

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate spokesman Father Issa Musleh told Al-Monitor the Patriarchate will resort to the Israeli High Court of Justice in the coming period, as it has documents proving the existence of corruption in the deal. 

He said the legal team is still taking care of the needed measures and has yet to determine the date it will resort to court. The Patriarchate has all the required documents and is waiting for life to return to normal post-coronavirus.

In 2004, the Orthodox Patriarchate signed a deal with shell companies that later transferred the property to Ateret Cohanim, the Maariv newspaper revealed back in 2005. The deal allowed the lease of three church properties to the settler association, namely the Petra and Imperial hotels located on Umar Ibn al-Khattab Plaza at Jaffa Gate, and Muzamiya House in the Bab al-Huta neighborhood north of Al-Aqsa Mosque.