By Peter Lukimson, exclusively to VK
Israeli political and diplomatic milieus are still buzzing about the ‘strange claims’ by the Georgian government about the ‘return’ of the Holy Cross Monastery to Georgia. Fortunately, this issue didn’t lead to a crisis in Israeli-Greek relations – mostly due to the good personal relations between the countries’ leaders. Mikheil Saakashvili was the first to mention the "return of the Holy Cross Monastery," on February 25. He said that the monastery was a part of Georgian history and that it is to be returned to the Georgian Orthodox Church. “The negotiations with the Israeli side are already on the way”. All Israeli media reported this incident.Two days later Georgian vice-FM Nino Kalandadze said that the return of the monastery is one of the top priorities of Georgian-Israeli talks, and that the Georgian Ambassador to Israel was involved in the process, as well as the country’s Foreign Ministry.At the same time, the Minister of Culture Nika Rurua noted that the list of officials working on the problem is confidential and that the negotiations are entering the final stage: “Today we are working to recommence divine services in Georgian in the temple. I don’t want to risk the delicate process, so I won’t reveal any details now. We will make press-releases as the negotiations proceed. The Holy Cross Monastery is very important to the Georgian public and I can assure you that we are doing everything in our power to bring it back”. This statement was also made public in Israel.
Such claims caused something of a wave of panic in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, as well as in the PM’s office, as none of these establishments has ever heard of any monastery-related negotiations. Moreover, no one in these offices has any power to negotiate about the destiny of the Holy Cross Monastery, as officially it belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church. And of course Greek officials were also surprised and irritated by such irresponsible claims and demanded explanations.A spokesperson for Jerusalem Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church, Bishop Aristachus, commented that the Monastery has belonged to the Greek Church for almost 330 years, and that he had never heard of any negotiations with the Georgian side. He also stressed that no one except for the Greek Orthodox Church has a right to decide any property-related issues touching upon the Monastery.
The row continued on March 5, when Nino Kalandadze made yet another statement touching upon the future of the monastery. She said that all prior reports on talks with Israel were a mere misunderstanding. In reality the topic was first discussed with Israel only a week before, during the Georgian foreign minister’s visit to Jerusalem. “He only informed Israeli officials that Georgia is starting preparations to officially raise the issue,” Kalandadze said.
This statement not only failed to make the situation less complicated, but in fact increased the tensions between the three countries. Israeli officials had to say that once again they have no idea what the Georgian side is talking about. According to the Israeli foreign minister’s press-service, ‘the monastery doesn’t belong to Israel, so the Georgian side has no reason to discuss the issue with Israel.” The release also states that the Ministry has no information about the Georgian FM discussing the issue during his visit.
Israeli media also point out that the new Georgian Ambassador to Israel, Archil Kekeliya, refused to make any comment on the issue. Several prominent members of the Jewish community in Georgian as well as of the Georgian community in Israel, said that they are ready to buy out the monastery to return it to the Georgian people. It is possible that this is their true intention, but in any case they will have to negotiate with the Greek Patriarchate, and not with the Israeli State.
