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Source: https://www.independent.co.ug/israel-tells-churches-it-does-not-seek-to-seize-lands/
Israel Tells Churches It Does Not Seek to Seize Lands
(AFP-Independent-UK) Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi met leaders of the Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches on Tuesday in response to a letter they sent last week to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling to block draft legislation they said was aimed at expropriating their property. Hanegbi told them, "The government of Israel has no intention to confiscate church lands or to cause any economic damage to the churches." Swathes of Jerusalem are held by various churches, which then sublet the properties on the commercial market. The bill would allow the state to intervene in the resale of residential property leases to commercial property developers. The bill's sponsor, MK Rachel Azaria of the centrist Kulanu party, says it was meant to solve the problem of "thousands of Jerusalem residents who could lose their homes due to the demands of developers."