Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society

The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (Russian: Императорское православное палестинское общество, ИППО) (IOPS), is a scholarly organization for the study of the Middle East, founded on 8 May 1882 by Vasily Khitrovo [ru], after the approval of Alexander III.

It belonged, up to the October Revolution, to the Imperial Palestine Society, while among its main donors was Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.

[5] In 2011, the Palestinian leadership transferred the site of the Russian Museum and Park Complex in Jericho to the government of Russia.

[5] In December 2019, the Israeli Justice Ministry transferred the historical Alexander compound [ru] with the Alexander Nevsky Church, Jerusalem to the Putin-allied Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society from the competing Imperial Orthodox Palestine Historic Society, which many commentators linked to negotiating Issachar's release.

[5][7] In 2015, as IOPS Chairman Sergey Stepashin and Minister of Culture of Russia Vladimir Medinsky signed a Program of Joint Actions for the Development of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage from the Russian Federation which supported the repairs and restoration of The Sergiev Gate and led to the establishment of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS) Council in the state of Israel.

Sergei's Courtyard in Jerusalem, whose ownership was transferred by Israel to Russia in 2008, to be managed by the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.
Emblem of the society