Church backs call to halt US aid to Israel
Presbyterian leaders strongly backed a proposal on Friday that included a call to end US aid to Israel unless the country stopped colony expansions in Palestinian territories
Minneapolis: Presbyterian leaders strongly backed a proposal on Friday that included a call to end US aid to Israel unless the country stopped colony expansions in Palestinian territories.
But they said a 172-page report, which detailed their church's approach to issues in the Middle East, was a sincere effort to mend long-standing fractures between the Presbyterian Church (USA) and Jewish groups.
It earned qualified praise but also criticism from pro-Israel organisations.
These groups have long taken issue with various Presbyterian statements on Middle East peace.
Church delegates approved the report by an 82 per cent vote during the church's general assembly in Minneapolis.
It was meant as a comprehensive guide to the denomination's more than two million members on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Reverend Karen Dimon, pastor at Northminster Presbyterian Church in North Syracuse, New York, and chairwoman of the committee that produced the report, said: "We feel we've brought together people who previously had trouble talking about some of these issues together."
