Presbyterian Church Praised as Votes Prevent Israel Divestment

Community leaders and Christian supporters of Israel recently welcomed a decision by a committee of America’s Presbyterian Church not to call for divestment in Israel.

|TOP|By 53 votes to six, the Committee on Peacemaking and International Issues backed a motion calling for the Church’s investments at a meeting last weekend, “as they pertain to Israel, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, be invested in only peaceful pursuits.”

Meeting at the Presbyterian Church’s general assembly in Alabama, the group decided to replace the wording of a 2004 general assembly resolution, which referred to a “process of phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel.”

The resolution also acknowledged that the actions of the last General Assembly “caused hurt and misunderstanding” among the Jewish community and the Presbyterian communion. It added: “We are grieved by the pain that this has caused, accept responsibility for the flaws in our process, and ask for a new season of mutual understand and dialogue.”

Welcoming the resolution, on which there was due to be a final vote Tuesday night, a spokesman for the Israeli embassy said: “We welcome the Presbyterian Church's change of heart and mind towards investment in Israel - the only way for peace is through positive engagement. We hope that Church bodies in the UK will pursue a similar approach of positive investment, and end the politicised divestment campaign."

|AD|Neville Nagler, director of The Sternberg Foundation, said: “The decision reflects a most welcome reappraisal. The Church has recognised the lack of balance in its decision two years ago, as well as the harm caused to Jewish-Christian relationships. Its wish to engage constructively with Israel in promoting peace is far more constructive than its former policy of divestment and disengagement."

Geoffrey Smith, deputy director of Christian Friends of Israel, described the committee’s vote as “a first move in the right direction”. And he asked: “Where are boycotts against China and the Sudan for their disasterous policies on human rights.”

"Our relationships with our Jewish friends were severely strained," said James D. Berkley, director of Presbyterian Action, a conservative group affiliated with the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington. "We had congregations that had spent years making excellent relationships with local temples, and rabbis and pastors that were good friends. And suddenly, the rabbis were calling up and saying, 'What has the church done? I thought you were our friends.' “

The action on divestment prompted other Protestant churches to consider similar steps. The World Council of Churches urged its member churches last year to give serious consideration to divesting funds from Israel. The Church of England voted for divestment in February. But few others have followed suit.