Cabinet won't recognize Patriarch Eireneos

Israel will not recognize Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox Patriarch Eireneos after all, despite the cabinet's approval of his election a week ago.

The High Court of Justice, which debated two petitions against Eireneos' appointment, has put off the recognition by three weeks. Both petitioners - Yosef Leufer of the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva in the Old City, and Yosef Na'aman Nasser - demand the patriarch's appointment be made void.

They say he is involved in criminal activities and writing anti-Semitic letters. The petitioners also want an investigation of the patriarch reopened, which the police and state prosecutor closed for lack of evidence.

Eireneos' election took three years from the death of the previous patriarch. In July 2001 the cabinet approved 10 to 15 candidates presented by the Church five months earlier. In April 2002 a ministers' team approved Eireneos' appointment, but the cabinet rejected it.

The state yesterday maintained there is no cause for the court to intervene in the prosecutor's decision to close the probe against Eireneos. The Patriarchate, represented by attorney Gilad Sher, said a delay in the government's recognition of Eireneos would damage the Greek Orthodox community's legal institutions. "There is no historic precedent for such a prolonged process of electing a senior Church official who heads a religious community," he said.