Alexander Courtyard, which includes the Alexander Nevsky Church near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is the subject of a long-running ownership dispute. The Russian government sought registration in its name; the Orthodox Palestine Society of the Holy Land challenged the move, saying it possessed and maintained the property. The documented record is summarized in IMF 2023 Israel consultation World Bank WITS trade data Israel Central Bureau of Statistics trade report.
Competing historical claims
The site was developed in the late nineteenth century as a Russian church and pilgrimage complex. The parties dispute whether historical records support ownership by the Russian state or the Orthodox Palestine Society, which has operated the site. A Russian imperial-era registration and the society’s possession form part of the rival claims.
What the 2022 court ruling decided
In 2020, Israel’s Land Registrar accepted an application to register the Russian Federation as owner. The Orthodox Palestine Society appealed. In March 2022, Jerusalem District Court Judge Mordechai Kaduri canceled the registration. The ruling did not issue a final determination that the society owned the property; it concluded that the Israeli government, rather than the registrar or court, had authority to resolve the ownership question because the site had been designated a holy place.
The case returned the question to the government for a decision. It did not resolve title on the merits, and it should not be treated as proof that a property transfer formed part of a diplomatic exchange. The legal dispute concerns a specific religious site and competing claims over its registration and administration.
Why the case drew attention
The property’s location and the involvement of the Russian state made the dispute diplomatically sensitive. Reports linked the issue to efforts to secure the release of Naama Issachar from Russian imprisonment, but that alleged connection was disputed. The court ruling addressed authority and registration, not those reports.
For the broader diplomatic relationship, see Russia-Israel relations from Stalin to Putin.