A four-way struggle is developing over a 10.8-dunam (2.7-acre) Tel Aviv seafront lot. The precise location of the lot is unknown. One professional opinion places it at the Dolphinarium, while another places it at the adjacent gas station.
The contenders for the title to the lot are the state, the Tel Aviv municipality, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and the Israel Cancer Association. The Chief Rabbi of France, the Mikve-Israel Agricultural School, and the chairman of the Ashkenazi community of Jerusalem may also sue for a share of the lot. The value of the lot is estimated at $10 million.
In 1896, the Jewish community of Jaffa bought the lot from the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, using a donation from the Baroness Hirsch. A hospital was built on the site. The lot was registered in the name of an individual, who transferred its management to a charity, with four trustees: The Sephardi Chief Rabbi, the chairman of the Ashkenazi community of Jerusalem, the Chief Rabbi of France and the Mikve-Israel Agricultural School. The hospital was closed down many years later and destroyed during Israel's 1948 War of Independence.
In 1961, the state expropriated the lot as part of the expropriation of the Manshiya neighborhood, for the construction of office towers and a hotel. The state did not pay compensation, since it was not clear to whom it should pay. In 2000, the Jerusalem District Court appointed the Israel Cancer Association as trustee for the property, on the basis of the reconstituted charity note.
The Israel Cancer Association filed suit against the state last year, requesting that the expropriation of the land be cancelled, because a gas station occupied part of the lot, instead of a public building as stipulated in the expropriation. Alternatively, the Israel Cancer Association demanded NIS 42 million in compensation. In its statement of defense, the state claimed that the original charity note had been found, and the ruling by the Jerusalem District Court was cancelled.
A four-way struggle has now developed for control of the lot. The Sephardi Chief Rabbi is suing the Israel Cancer Association for the cancellation of the latter's trusteeship and for the Sephardi Chief Rabbi to be appointed trustee instead, on the basis of the original charity note. The Tel Aviv municipality is demanding the lot, claiming that the original trustees transferred management of the lot to the community committee (the municipality at the time) in 1935. The Israel Land Administration (ILA) and the Israel Cancer Society want to preserve the current situation.
Chief Rabbi of France Joseph Sitruk and the Mikve-Israel Agricultural School, both listed as trustees, may also demand a share of the lot. The current "chairman of the Ashkenazi community of Jerusalem" is uncertain, and the Jerusalem municipality may assume its office.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on September 19, 2004