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Russia Threatens Israel with Legal Action to Regain Ownership of 3 Churches in Jerusalem

This picture taken on December 20, 2021 shows a view of an Israeli flag flying near the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene atop the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. (AFP via Getty Images)
This picture taken on December 20, 2021 shows a view of an Israeli flag flying near the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene atop the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. (AFP via Getty Images)
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Russia Threatens Israel with Legal Action to Regain Ownership of 3 Churches in Jerusalem

This picture taken on December 20, 2021 shows a view of an Israeli flag flying near the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene atop the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. (AFP via Getty Images)
This picture taken on December 20, 2021 shows a view of an Israeli flag flying near the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene atop the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. (AFP via Getty Images)

The Russian government has demanded its Israeli counterpart to transfer ownership of three historic churches to Moscow, political sources in Tel Aviv revealed.

Russia wants state ownership of the Maria Magdalena Monastery, the Ascension Monastery, and the Viri Galilaei Church (People of the Galilee) all situated on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

The sources quoted former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, who is responsible on behalf of Russia to regain assets in Israel, as saying that he intends to file a lawsuit at an Israeli court to force the Tel Aviv to return ownership of the churches to Russia if refuses to do so through diplomatic means.

According to Israel’s Yediot Aharonot daily, the new lawsuit is intended for internal propaganda in Russia in light of President Valdimir Putin’s declining popularity due to the war in Ukraine.

The newspaper said Russians are concerned about church issues and would like to see their president also interested in them.

“In Russia, they feel that the Israeli Prime Minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing difficulties in forming a government, and therefore, Russian officials believe this is the appropriate timing to put pressure on him to fulfill previous promises he had made to Putin three years ago,” according to a former political activist working in the file of the expulsion of Jews from Russia to Israel.

In 2019, Netanyahu promised Putin that Israel would transfer ownership of the Alexander Nevsky Church and Alexander Square in Jerusalem to Russia.

He said Israel must respond to the Russian claims, because its silence would harm Tel Aviv, especially in light of the war in Ukraine and the West’s united front against Moscow.

Meanwhile, a source close to the Russian Consulate in Haifa said these churches are Russia, and that the Church of Maria Magdalene houses the remains of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, who was killed during the 1918 coup by the Russian secret police.

The Church also houses the remains of Princess Alice, great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria of Britain.

Ottoman and British documents show that the two churches and the monastery are Russian, said the source.

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Indonesia's Mount Ibu Erupts More than 1,000 Times this Month

Mount Ibu, on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, has erupted more than a thousand times this month. AZZAM / AFP/File
Mount Ibu, on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, has erupted more than a thousand times this month. AZZAM / AFP/File
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Indonesia's Mount Ibu Erupts More than 1,000 Times this Month

Mount Ibu, on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, has erupted more than a thousand times this month. AZZAM / AFP/File
Mount Ibu, on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, has erupted more than a thousand times this month. AZZAM / AFP/File

A volcano in eastern Indonesia has erupted at least a thousand times this month, according to an official report Sunday as efforts were underway to evacuate thousands of villagers living near the rumbling mountain.

Mount Ibu, on the remote island of Halmahera in North Maluku province, sent a column of smoke up to four kilometers (2.5 miles) into the sky in an eruption on Wednesday, AFP said.

Indonesian officials raised its alert status to the highest level and called for the evacuation of 3,000 people living in six nearby villages.

It was one of 1,079 eruptions by the volcano recorded since January 1 by Indonesia's Geological Agency, sending columns of ash reaching between 0.3 and 4 kilometers above its peak, according to the agency's data gathered by AFP.

The latest big eruption occurred on Sunday at 1:15 am local time as it spewed a towering cloud of ash 1.5 kilometers into the air.

"The ash was grey, with moderate to thick intensity, drifting southwest. A loud rumbling sound was heard all the way to Mount Ibu Observation Post," the agency said in a statement.

It added that the volcano had erupted 17 times on Sunday alone.

Despite deciding to evacuate affected villagers, local authorities had only managed to evacuate 517 residents as of Sunday, pledging to persuade those who remained to stay in safe shelters.

Many have refused to evacuate, arguing that they were used to the situation and were in harvest season.

"There might be economic considerations, as many residents are in the middle of harvesting crops. However, we will continue to educate the community and encourage them to evacuate," said Adietya Yuni Nurtono, Ternate district military commander in charge of a safe shelter.

Mount Ibu, one of Indonesia's most active volcanos, has shown a significant increase in activity since last June.

Residents living near Mount Ibu and tourists have been advised to avoid a five- to six-kilometer exclusion zone around the volcano's peak and to wear face masks in case of falling ash.

As of 2022, around 700,000 people were living on Halmahera island, according to official data.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity as it lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Last November, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-meter (5,587-foot) twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores erupted more than a dozen times in one week, killing nine people in its initial explosion.

Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi province erupted more than half a dozen times last year, forcing thousands from nearby islands to evacuate.