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Jerusalem: Christianity

Question for Foreign and Commonwealth Office

UIN HL5985, tabled on 1 March 2018

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 6 November 2017 (HL2966), what is their assessment of (1) the Status Quo as it refers to the relations between the Christian Communities of the Holy Land with the governments of that region, and (2) Her Majesty's Government's historic and current responsibilities in maintaining and defending that agreement.

Answered on

15 March 2018

We encourage the parties to do all they can to work together to uphold the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv and our Consulate General in Jerusalem are closely following developments on both the Church Lands Bill and the Jerusalem Municipality Tax. We welcome the Israeli Government’s announcement that the draft legislation and tax collecting activities will be suspended to allow dialogue to take place, and the commitment given to maintaining freedom of religion. We expect all Church bank accounts to be unfrozen by the Municipality as part of this process.

Answered by

Foreign and Commonwealth Office