ELCA Presiding Bishop Meets President of Israel

Jerusalem (ELCA)-JB — The new leaders of the Palestinian people must take responsibility and stop terror attacks against the people of Israel for the new "road map" plan for peace to succeed, said Moshe Katsav, president of the State of Israel, during a one-hour meeting May 26 with the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Hanson, who is leading an eight-member ELCA delegation here and in the West Bank, emphasized the ELCA's commitment to nonviolence, peace and human rights for Palestinians and Israelis during the meeting. He noted that during the ELCA delegation's visit, the Israeli cabinet voted in favor of the so-called road map, a peace plan for the Middle East proposed by the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

"This is an historic week, a week we've prayed for and longed for," Hanson told Katsav. Hanson's first visit to the Middle East includes visits with Palestinian Lutherans and representatives of Lutheran organizations. The visit was arranged by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and Palestine) (ELCJ), led by the Rev. Munib A. Younan, Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem.

For nearly half the meeting, Katsav explained his view that Yasser Arafat, Palestinian president, is responsible for the escalated violence in the region. For example, Katsav said the last 1,000 days have been "bad days" for the Israeli people. "Whether you believe it or not, the Israelis came to the peace process with 'clean hands,'" he said. From 1993 to 2000, the Palestinian people enjoyed their "best seven years," until Arafat declared the "Intifada" that began in 2000, Katsav said. The Intifada began a campaign of "brutal terrorism that stopped this (peace) process," he told the ELCA presiding bishop.

"We can destroy the Palestinian people," Katsav said. "But, we don't want to miss a chance to make peace with them." "We don't want to wait any more," he continued. "We want as much as possible not to escalate the conflict with the Palestinians. They are not our enemy. Terrorists are our enemy."

In recent years the number of Christians in the Middle East has declined significantly. Today about 2 percent of the population — 2,000 to 3,000 people — here are Christian. Christians are leaving because of the growing numbers of Muslims, not because of Israel, Katsav said.

The Israelis have worked to prevent terror and have not retaliated, avenged or punished the Palestinian people for such violence, Katsav told the ELCA delegation.

"We can stop the violence now if the Palestinians will stop it," he said. "We don't want to occupy Palestinian territory, but it's for security. We are under terrible terrorist attacks. We don't have any choice."

Katsav said the decision of the Israeli government to endorse the road map is historic. In his view, however, Arafat is trying to interfere with the efforts of Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister, to rein in violence and build peace, the Israeli president said.

Hanson presented Katsav a copy of the ELCA Declaration to the Jewish Community, adopted by the ELCA Church Council in 1994, in which the church repudiated the anti-Jewish writings of Martin Luther, a German monk for whom Lutheran churches are named. He also told Katsav that this month the ELCA held an informal dialogue with representatives of the Commission on Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism in Chicago, and more dialogue is expected.

Hanson and Younan raised with Katsav a controversial employer's tax case involving the State of Israel and Augusta Victoria Hospital, a 53-year-old health care facility that serves mostly Palestinians. Located on the Mount of Olives here, the hospital is operated by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) based in Geneva, Switzerland.

In a recent decision by an Israeli tax court, the court said the LWF had a valid tax exemption with the State of Israel for many years, but ruled the taxing authority canceled the agreement in 2000. If the LWF accepts the court decision, it may be liable for $350,000 in annual employer's taxes retroactive to 2001. LWF representatives say they do not have the money, and if the tax is imposed, it will have to curtail hospital services or cause it to shut down.

Younan has said the case has significant financial implications for other humanitarian organizations serving here, and has asked other Christian churches to "communicate, cooperate and coordinate" on the issue.

Hanson said the hospital's humanitarian mission is "a symbol for the world" and the facility is a plus for Israel to maintain. Younan called for a comprehensive agreement between the State of Israel and the LWF to solve the tax issue and maintain the hospital for many years to come.

The problem with the Augusta Victoria tax case is that it has nothing to do with the Palestinians, said Gadi Golan, head of the religious affairs bureau, Israeli ministry of foreign affairs. It's a legal agreement and the case is now being appealed to the high court in Israel, he told Katsav in the meeting with the ELCA delegation.

"We can do nothing," Golan said. "I'm sure that at the end of the day, there will be a solution. It's not against the Palestinians. It's a legal matter, and I'm sure Augusta Victoria will go on."