Moscow, February 5, 2015
The Mount of Olives
The head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem has asked the Russian state to try to prevent the alleged planned expropriation by Israel of some of Russian-owned property in that country.
At a meeting in Jerusalem with the property manager of the Russian president's office, Alexander Kolpakov, Hegumen Theophane (Lukyanov) "stressed that property of the Russian Federation needs protection," the mission said in a statement.
Fr. Theophane was primarily referring to "a plot of land on the Mount of Olives that is unused currently and that the Israeli authorities want to take it over," it said.
Furthermore, St. Alexander's Mission in the Old City of Jerusalem "currently belongs to an organization that has broken away from the Palestinian Society Abroad, but its return to its lawful owner remains a moot point," the statement said.
"Our land needs immediate defense. Russian property may end up in someone else's hands and become the Israelis' property," the priest said.
