i24 News – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin sent a letter to his Israeli counterpart Naftali Bennett requesting that he authorizes the transfer of control of the St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Yerushalayim to Moscow.
Israeli sources said on Monday that Israel was handling the matter, without elaborating, Haaretz reported.
However, Yerushalayim’s District Court halted the process last month, saying it should be done under the supervision of Bennett.
Sergei Stepashin, a former Russian prime minister, said last week that Putin would send the letter.
Stepashin is chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, which is responsible for Russian holy sites in Israel, according to Haaretz.
“We are fighting for the return of St. Alexander Nevsky, and it’s a really tough one,” Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
“A situation arose with Ukraine, and Israel has acted as expected: Trying to please everyone both here and there,” he added.
The Church of St. Alexander Nevsky is located in Yerushalayim’s Old City, adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is considered among the most important Russian sites in the holy basin and a pilgrimage destination.
After Issachar was freed in January 2020, the Israeli Justice Ministry’s Land Registry began the process to transfer control of the church to Moscow, Haaretz reported.
But the swap was never officially acknowledged, prompting the Yerushalayim court to make its ruling due to the church’s holy status.
Putin needs to make a major Pesach cleaning below that tiflah.