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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 27, 2003

ELCA PRESIDING BISHOP MEETS PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL
03-110-JB

     JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- 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."
-- -- --
Photos from presiding bishop's visit to the Middle East can be found at
http://www.elca.org/co/news/mideast on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html