The Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, regarding the Arnona (Municipality Tax) issue, informed Chancellor Rev. Fr. Aghan Gogchyan of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

“In his letter, His Beatitude exhorted His Excellency to interfere and cease the actions taken by the Municipality against the Patriarchate and restart the meetings within the governmental committee founded by the Prime Minister himself in an effort to find a solution for this issue,” Fr. Aghan Gogchyan added on Facebook.

As reported earlier, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has accused Israeli authorities of unfair, targeted, and dirty taxes levied against the religious organization.

The Jerusalem Municipality is seeking to seize property that has belonged to the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem for centuries and auction it off to collect community debts that have allegedly accrued since 1994.

If the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s petition is rejected, the Jerusalem Municipality will seize real estate belonging to the patriarchate and auction it off to recover alleged disputed debts that have never been proven in court, the patriarchate added in its statement.