Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat decided they will freeze the controversial bill that aimed to collect taxes from church-owned properties, Haaretz reported.

In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu asked Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi to formulate a solution to the issue of tax collection from churches, following a request by the heads of major churches in Jerusalem.

The freeze came after enraged church leaders in Jerusalem closed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday in protest against the Israeli discriminatory policy of imposing a new tax on church properties and a proposed land expropriation law.

Theophilos III, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Francesco Patton, the Custos of the Holy Land and Nourhan Manougian, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem signed a statement in which they expressed their anger towards Israeli policies.

Meanwhile, an Israeli cabinet committee will consider a bill on Sunday to allow the state to expropriate land in Jerusalem sold by churches to private real estate firms since 2010.The bill was proposed by Kulanu MK Rachel Azaria claiming it aims to protect homeowners against the possibility that private companies will not extend their leases.

“This abhorrent bill ... if approved, would make the expropriation of the lands of churches possible,” the church leaders said, describing it as a "systematic campaign of abuse against churches and Christians reaches now its peak as a discriminatory and racist bill that targets solely the properties of the Christian community.”