Israel: Attorney General says government 'should' offer compensation to torched church

Source: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem/ICN

The Israeli Attorney General has announced that compensation 'should' be offered to the Benedictine Monastery of Tabgha. The Church located on the northern bank of the Sea of Galilee was torched on June 18 by terrorists affiliated to the radical right wing in Israel.

On the July 29 and 30, three suspects were arrested. According to Shin Bet, they allegedly belong to "a group of radical ideologists, active since 2013 and suspected of anti-Christian acts and aggression against Palestinian civilians". A wave of large-scale mobilization and repeated testimonials of solidarity with the local Christian community had preceded the arrests.

On August 27, on a visit to the site of the arson, the President of Israel Reuven Rivlin thought good to remind that "Israel is a democratic country which guarantees the freedom of worship to everybody", and where "Christian communities should be able to prosper in security", while Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Fouad Twal, expressed his serious concern as to the rising acts of anti-Christian vandalism in Israel.

This decision of the Israeli Attorney General in 21 September, came after the refusal of the Israeli Property Tax Authority to offer compensation for damages caused by this terrorist assault. As yet, no announcement of the hoped-for compensation has been made.

A church commentator in London said: "This is encouraging news, but I will be happier when I hear that the compensation has been paid. The Israelis have a habit of making positive announcements, even legal rulings, and then changing their minds. Earlier this year a court ruled that the Separation Wall was not going to cut off the land of 58 Christian families. A few weeks later the army moved in with bulldozers and is stealing this land."