Mormons’ Project : Mount of Olives Study Center Angers Jews

Orthodox Jewish leaders want to post signs reading “No Jews allowed” if they fail to block construction of a Mormon study center on the Mount of Olives, where Christians believe Jesus ascended to heaven.

The leaders fear that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wants to convert Jews at the $15-million facility. But church leaders deny the charge and vow to remain.

“We cannot burn them down, and we cannot chase them out, but we will try to find ways to make them feel unwanted,” said Rabbi Yitzhak Kolitz, the head of Jerusalem’s religious courts and a leader of Orthodox efforts to block the center. “They will not proselytize in Jerusalem.”

Kolitz said in an interview he would do anything in his power to stop Christians from trying to convert Jews. He said access to the center should be restricted.

Impossible Demands

“The demands of the Orthodox are impossible,” said Mormon center director David B. Galbraith. “They are trying to dictate what we do here, and when we do it.”

The Mormons have won the support of the Anti-Defamation League, a New York-based Jewish civil rights group.

“The demands that no Jewish person may attend any function at the center without prior permission is an unquestionable infringement on their rights,” said David Rosen, the group’s director of religious affairs. “We haven’t taken an active role in the struggle, but if things get much worse we will.”

Construction of the center, to be called the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, began in 1984 after four years of negotiations between the Israeli government and officials from the Mormon-run Brigham Young University in Utah.

Classes Already Under Way

The seven-story marble and limestone building is nearly completed, and 150 Mormon students from the United States already are attending classes there.

The visitors center, with a 400-seat auditorium, is the focus of the argument because it will be open to the public starting in September.

The dispute began in 1985 when Orthodox leaders demanded a halt in construction. In response, the government formed a committee of eight Cabinet ministers to study the case.

It recommended that the original construction permit be amended to include two conditions--that the Mormons promise not to proselytize and that a committee be created to monitor their activities.

The Israel Land Authority, which had issued the permit, and the Mormons agreed to the conditions. But a dispute has developed over who will control the five-member watchdog panel.

Controversy Over Committee

Uri Mincder, spokesman for Minister of Religious Affairs Zevulun Hammer, the chairman of the Cabinet committee, said the Mormons want a majority on the panel and opponents insist the committee include three Jews and two Mormons.

“The problem is not what the committee does, but who’s in charge,” Mincder said. “Mr. Hammer is not about to let the Mormons be in charge of watching the Mormons.”

Mormon leaders contend that some members of the Cabinet committee are bargaining in bad faith and have no plans to compromise.

“It has become apparent there are certain elements within that (ministerial) committee who could not approve whatever agreement we would make short of our literal departure from the land,” Galbraith said.

Site Has Significance

Brigham Young University began offering three-month study programs in Israel in 1969, and Galbraith said there had been no allegations that Mormons had tried to convert Jews since then.