THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, November 11, 1977 19 Israel and Jerusalem's Christians By ROBERT D. KAPLAN World Zionist Organization Delicacy is the touchstone of daily Israeli government policy towards its Christian minorities in Jerusalem. Officials must maintain a deft juggling act between the various estranged deno- minations, many of whom .command powerful support from outside the Jewish state, yet within the country are as one pundit explained, "minorities three-times over." The dual personality of lsalem's Christians is the basis of how the government deals with them on an everyday level. The Holy City is not the world center for any Chris- tian group. Thus all the sects are representatives of more powerful elements outside Israel. The Latin Patriarch here, to put it mildly, has a friend at the Vatican. Jerusalem Angli- cans can turn to Canter- bury. Rival church hier- archies in New York and Moscow monitor the treat- ment of their. respective Russian Orthodox commu- nities here. And church bureaucracies in Soviet Armenia and Ethiopia keep a watchful eye of the fate of their Jerusalem congrega- tions. So it goes. On the other hand, the phrase "minorities three- times over" is not a mere rhetorical one. Firstly, most of Jerusalem's 12,000 Christians are Arabs, a people who are a minority vis-a-vis the Jews. Sec- ondly, because they are Christian, they are a minor- ity within Arab society, which is predominantly Moslem. And thirdly, since there are 35 different Chris- tian groups in Israel, unless they belong . to a dominant group like the Greek Ortho- dox, these people are also a minority within the Chris- tian population at large. The conflicting character- istics of the Holy City's Christians have caused a relationship where the Israeli government gives a kind of preferential treat- ment to its Christian inhabitants as if they were official representatives of foreign states, because in many ways they are. This special treatment must be handled very efficiently. Since the triple minority status makes the sects so sensitive to their already weakened position, a minor crisis in this relationship can revolve around some- thing like failure of the gov- ernment to grant a tax , exemption on a clergy- I's car or refrigerator. one official of the Reli- gious Affairs Ministry said: "The ministry on one'hand compensates for their minority status, but at the same time is sort of con- ducting diplomatic relations with foreign powers." How does this extra spe- cial relationship work? Very efficiently. The reason is simple. The Ministry of Religious Affairs is in the words of one expert, the Christians' "right hand man" in Israel. If a clergy- man has trouble with a cus- toms deduction at the Cus- toms House, if he can't get a slip from the Health Min- istry, if he has visa prob- lems at the Interior Min- istry, he turns to the eight- member department at the Religious Affairs Ministry, and then they handle it all, like a private ombudsman. A principle duty of these eight officials is to dispense privileges to Christian clergymen in Israel. These rights, very generally, are similar to rights given to new Jewish immigrants, except they don't expire after three years. The 40 French and Italian Christian institutions in Jerusalem, such as the Ecole Biblique for example, receive the most benefits simply because their rights were negotiated between France, Italy and Turkey in Ottoman times, and all the succeeding governments in this area have kept the status quo in this regard. These rights mostly include tax exemptions on all imported merchandise, little different than immi-, grant benefits. When French and Italian clergy travel outside Israel, they are exempted from the travel tax. Also, all Chris- tian community heads are entitled to purchase a new car every three years, tax free. Government officials note that the other Christian groups enjoy less benefits than the French and Ital- ians. But an insider reported that the Religioug Affairs Ministry is "work- ing in the direction" of bringing the benefits received by the other groups "up to the level" of the French and Italians. ' All these exempted taxes are paid by the govern- ment, with the Religious Ministry transferring the funds to the appropriate government office. Cur- rently,, the Ministry' main- tains a yearly IL 30 million budget for such purposes. This tax-exempt status also extends to construc- tion. Costs of church build- ing in Israel are tax free, a benefit not enjoyed by syna- gogues or yeshivot. In addi- tion to all this, the Ministry occasionally gives grants for the purpose of new church building or acquisi- tions. An IL 50,000 gift to the Maronite Christians for their soon-to-be-completed center in the Old City, and an IL 30,000 gift to the Armenians for book pur- chases are examples. The gift to the Maronite Chris- tians is especially welcome, since that group's resources are taxed by assistance given to Lebanese Maro- nites through the "good fence. - The Ministry is also in the business of mediation between Christian groups that happen to be at odds. This mediation can some- times be financially costly. The ministry will soon spend IL 23,000 for roof repairs in the Chapel of St. Helena in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Both the Copts and the 'Ethiopians claim rights to the roof. Since paying for repairs sig- nifies ownership, the state of Israel will bear the cost. The ministry also acts as an information- center for foreign visitors seeking knowledge about Jerusalem Christians. This information drive is exemplified by Christian News from Israel, a quarterly' publication in three languages to which many libraries and churches in the West subscribe. Unfortunately, the people of Israel don't receive much applause for their behavior towards area Christians. This, admittedly, is partly the ministry's fault. Though it invests much effort in dis- tributing information about Jerusalem Christians, it invests little effort in dis- tributing information about what it does on their behalf. Its helpful policy towards the various groups is well known within those commu- nities. Jordan Raider Manager Irving Lober Representative Sheldon Mogpl. _ Representative Jack Lelmwitz - Representative Charles Dennis Manager Retirement for The Self-Employed Self-employed? If so, you'll get a tax break for preparing for retire- ment. Deduct up to 15% of earnings put into Gleaner's Self- Employed Retirement Plan ($7500 a year maximum). Phone today for details. Raider-Dennis Agency, 17117 W. Nine Mile, Suite 333, Southfield But Christian publications from outside Israel rarely mention such things. Per- haps we should be thankful for small mercies: most Christians in the West do recognize by now the simple fact that the Holy places here are "open." li! ll I I I I PHONE 559-2250 LIFE INSURANCE SOCIETY 1500 N. WOODWARD • BIRMINGHAM. MICHIGAN • 48012 A JEWISH BOOK FAIR HIGHLIGHT CO-SPONSORED BY THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND AND AN ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF DETROIT Guest Speaker: Dr. STEPHEN M. POPPEL 'ICI I will speak on Jewish Books and Jewish Survival in Nazi Germany ;1'0' ; I I I I Dr. STEPHEN M. POPPEL noted author, distinguished scholar and historian and eloquent speaker. Author- ZIONISM IN GERMANY, 1897 to 1933, The Shaping of a Jewish Identity. Public Invited • No Admission Charge Wednesday NOVEMBER 16 at 8:00 p.m. At the Jewish Community Center 6600 W. Maple. W. Bloomfield