Talks held to develop biblical park in Galilee

Occupied Jerusalem: Israel is offering evangelical Christians a chunk of the Holy Land.

Fourteen hectares of rolling hills and rocky shores of the Sea of Galilee, tucked between key sites in Jesus' ministry, would be leased to an association of evangelists led by American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, Israeli tourism officials say.

The potential deal for turning over biblical lands to develop a tourist destination underlines how ties have strengthened in recent years between Israel and evangelical Christian groups that support the Jewish state.

For other Christian denominations, which represent tens of thousands of Arabs living in the Holy Land, the deal raises questions about possible threats to the sensitive status quo in the Galilee region where they have owned land for hundreds of years.

The land envisioned for the lease also is near a politically contentious area. It lies about three kilometres from territory that Syria wants returned in any future peace deal with Israel, said a Syrian expert on geography, Hamed Halaby.

Israel says evangelical leaders have agreed to raise $50 million (about Dh184 million) to build a Heritage Centre on the site, hoping to attract tens of thousands of religious pilgrims a year.

Israeli Tourism Minister Avraham Hirschson said he expects a contract to be signed soon.

Under the plan, the Christians would build a broadcast centre from which to evangelise, an open-air chapel and an auditorium for re-enacting Jesus' journeys in the area, a Tourism Ministry brochure says.

Israel also plans to develop areas around the holy sites.

Paths lined with sculptures and plaques would connect a triangle of holy sites: Capernaum; the Mount of Beatitudes, where tradition holds Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount; and Tabgha on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where the faithful believe he performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

Criticised

Other Christian denominations that own property in Galilee are concerned about the deal.

The Greek Orthodox Church, which has close to 90,000 Arab followers in the Holy Land, criticised Israel for not consulting its leaders on the issue.

"I react with scepticism and reservations," said Archbishop Aristarchos, the church's chief secretary.

"This is a violation of the church's status quo, because each church has its territory and other churches cannot interfere." Father Athanasius Macora, a spokesman for the Franciscan order, which since 1338 has overseen lands for the Roman Catholic Church at Galilee holy sites, said the Holy Land should be open to all denominations. But he also said Israel should be careful not to alter the pastoral landscape.

Nearly 100,000 tourists are expected to fly into Israel in the next 10 days in order to celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah in the Holy Land, airport officials said.

A total of 173,000 passengers, including more than 90,000 foreign tourists, are scheduled to land in the country's Ben Gurion international airport, near Tel Aviv, according to a statement from the national airport authority. The authority predicted that 631 flights were due to land and 624 were to take off.