In December 2007, Israel finally joined the Jordanian and Palestinian governments in recognising Theophilos III as the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
[8][9] After his dismissal, Irenaios took up residence in a small apartment on the top floor of the building of the Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
[5][10] In 2011, Irenaios confirmed in an interview given to Israeli newspaper Haaretz that he was not prevented from leaving the building, but didn't do so out of fear he might not be able to return.
In what was interpreted as a possible sign of reconciliation, Irenaios voluntarily left his apartment again in March 2016 to attend a reception in honor of Patriarch Theophilos III.
[11] However, in 2019 Irenaios sent a letter to the Consulate of Greece in Jerusalem, in which he claimed he continued to live in a state of "de facto" imprisonment, asserting that his Greek passport had been stolen from him, and that Patriarch Theophilos III was attempting to have him transferred to a monastery near Jericho, against his will.
[12] Irenaios was granted assistance from the Greek government, and, in August 2019, he arrived in a wheelchair at Ben Gurion International Airport and boarded a flight to Athens.