Patriarch Irineos I (C) is protected by Israeli policemen as he faces angry Palestinian Christians. (Reuters)

GAZA CITY, May 1, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The embattled Greek Orthodox patriarch sold lands in Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) to Jewish investors to win Israel’s favor to remain in office, his former financial aid has charged.

“The Israeli government refused to approve Irineos's election as patriarch for two years and alleged that he was close to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Nikos Papadimas as telling Israeli Haaretz newspaper.

“The patriarch wanted to prove to the Israeli authorities that he did not support the Palestinians and the PLO,” added Papadimas, who fled Israel to an unknown destination after the scandal erupted.

On March 18, Israel's Maariv newspaper reported that foreign Jewish investors had paid millions of dollars to buy two large properties at Jaffa Gate, the main entrance to Al-Quds’s Old City, in a secret deal with the Greek Orthodox Church.

The Palestinians maintain that purchasing property in the Old City is part of a major Israeli scheme to Judaize the holy city.

Irineos I has repeatedly denied involvement in the sale.

The church owns some 18 percent of West Jerusalem, 17 percent of Al-Quds and 3 percent of the cities of Al-Lad, Al-Ramla, Yafa, and Haifa.

Deal

Irineos negotiated the sale of the properties to a Jewish buyer and signed the deal soon afterward in a payoff for making his installation, the Israeli paper said.

It added that in January 2004 the government gave its approval for his appointment.

The deal was signed by an offshore company registered in the Bahamas.

Papadimas said the company deposited a $1.5 million advance into one of the patriarchy's accounts.

The scandal has provoked fury among the Arab Orthodox community who pressed for the patriarch's dismissal, deportation from Israel and replacement by an Arab patriarch, an office kept exclusive to the Greek.

Arabs, who represent some 90 percent of the Greek church’s followers, have been demanding the Arabization of Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox patriarchy for decades.

They complain that the Greek priests, some of whom are corrupt, have been selling large chunks of the property to Jews, not allowing Arabs any control of the assets.

Angry Christians mobbed Irineos I last week during a procession to celebrate Orthodox Palm Sunday, booing and shouting “Shame on you.”

On March 1, a number of Arab Orthodox priests demanded Irineos I to leave Al-Quds, accusing him of making the church a breeding ground for corruption.

They further charged him with having “direct links” with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.