“It’s a tragedy,” said Rabbi Noam E. Marans, director for interreligious and intergroup relations for the American Jewish Committee. “Presbyterians and Jews in the pews need and want each other in order to address the issues that are most challenging in America today. This prevents that from happening.”
Rabbi Noam E. Marans. Photo courtesy AJC
Among those challenges he cited racism, antisemitism, gun violence, immigration reform and other issues on which American Jews and Presbyterians see eye to eye.
In the U.S., views of Israeli government have taken a hit among more liberal groups. Only 51% of white non-evangelical Protestants have a very or somewhat favorable view of the Israeli government, according to a recent Pew survey, and that number drops to 43% among Black Protestants.
A new Pew Research poll finds views of Israel differ substantially across partisan lines. While 71% of Republicans have a favorable opinion of Israel, only 44% of Democrats do.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is hardly alone among its fellow mainline Protestant denominations to take a critical stand of Israel’s 54-year occupation of Palestinian lands. Last year, the smaller United Church of Christ resolved that the continuing oppression of the Palestinian people constituted “sin in violation of the message of the biblical prophets and the Gospel.”
And last month, the New England Conference of The United Methodist Church overwhelmingly passed a resolution entitled “Identifying and Opposing Apartheid in the Holy Land.” The resolution called on the U.S. government “to condition U.S. funding to Israel upon Israel’s willingness to dismantle its apartheid system and implement all the rights due to Palestinians under international law.”
Still, the Rev. Todd Stavrakos, who is active with Presbyterians for Middle East Peace, said he believed local churches and synagogues will continue to work together: “On the local level there’s still strong working relationships between Presbyterian churches and synagogues in their neighborhoods. I don’t think that’s changed.”
The denomination, meeting June 18 – July 9 in Louisville, Kentucky, and online, also passed resolutions to divest from five oil companies and to oppose any attempt to reduce, limit or eliminate access to abortion.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) resolution had been proposed in 2020 but because of the coronavirus pandemic was delayed.
This article originally appeared here.
