Presbyterian Church members in the US oppose divestment from Israel

A recent poll by the Presbyterian Church in the United States shows that lay members oppose the leadership’s decision for business divestment from Israel over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 42 per cent of members and 46 percent of elders oppose “selective phased divestment”, a policy that was approved by the church’s General Assembly in July 2004. Some 28 per cent of members and 30 percent of elders support the move, according to a survey taken in November 2004 and released this month. However, pastors favor divestment by 48 percent to 43 percent. More of the pastors and clergy were aware of the decision than the lay members, who mostly were unaware. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations welcomed the findings. “We hope church leaders will be guided by the sentiments reflected in their own poll. These statistics support much anecdotal evidence that the decision to launch a divestment campaign against Israel was not seriously debated at their General Assembly, but was adopted with little thought to its inherent political bias,” the group said in a statement.