{mosimage}Reporter Kliman Lipskind, from Israeli newspaper Ma’areev, revealed Friday the original documents concerning the Jerusalem property deal between the Greek Orthodox Church and Jewish investors, saying the documents will be shocking to church officials.
Around the middle of February, Lipskind uncovered a major property deal, through which the Greek Orthodox Patriarch (Irinious I) sold major property in Omar Ben Al-Khatab square in the old city of Jerusalem, worth $ 130 million to Jewish investors.
The news on the deal created uproar inside the Church and among Arab Christians, who called for the immediate resignation of the Patriarch, and for setting him to a trial.
The Greek Patriarch denied any relation to the deal, saying if it exists it would be an illegal one.
Today’s revealed documents show that the Patriarch has rented the properties to Jewish investors for a period of 198 years.
The documents include, a lease contract signed by Nicolas Papadimos, a close aid to the Greek Orthodox patriarch, who fled the country two months ago, and a power of attorney from Irinious I to Papadimos signed in the presence of Lawyer Yaqouve Miron, allowing Papadimos to lease or sell Church properties.
