The Jewish community in Cyprus is up-in-arms following a decision by local government officials who are now demanding that the community pay a “protection fee” for security services that the government is providing for protecting Jewish community buildings and institutions.

According to a report that was published on the website Jewish.UA, heads of the Jewish Cypriot community were stunned to receive invoices recently stating that the community needs to pay for protection services that they received over the holiday of Chanukah. The total fee was $6,000 U.S.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, who heads the Center of European Rabbis, attacked the government’s decision to apply the tariff. “This is a humiliating gesture,” he said.

Rabbi Margolin added that not all European countries provide free security services for Jewish festivals, but neither has there ever been a case where a government collected fees for this service.

Rabbi Margolin wrote a personal letter to the government officials in which he said: “I hereby call on the Cypriot officials to change your minds and ensure that all of the members of the Jewish Community in Cyprus receive the same level of security and protection that their brothers and sisters receive in other countries in Europe.”

The news from Cyprus – an EU Member – will come as a deep embarrassment to other EU states and the European Union Institutions that only this week pledged to redouble their efforts in fighting anti-Semitism and to make Jews ‘feel at home’ in Europe.

In his letter to Minister Angelides, Rabbi Margolin said, “You can imagine the insult and bad taste in the mouth felt by the Jewish community when the bill from the police was presented.

“As the Chairman of the European Jewish Association I am well used to dealing and responding to challenging situations. But this decision to charge the Jewish population for their own security marks a new low, and one that I sincerely hope was a clerical mistake or administrative oversight on behalf of the police.

“I ask you respectfully to immediately write off the bill, and re-assure the Jewish community in Cyprus, that they will be afforded the same security and protection afforded to their brothers and sisters elsewhere in Europe, and provided for by Member states governments, without charges, fees or invoices following Jewish events and holidays. Indeed, there were many Chanukah events all over Europe in which the local police offered protected – as they do at any public event – and this is the first time we hear that the police asking to be paid for doing their job.”

The attached photo shows the itemized bill for the security services.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)