Dec. 15, 2004 US splinter group opposes Presbyterian divestment from Israel By URIEL HEILMAN NEW YORK A Presbyterian group is mounting a campaign to reverse the Presbyterian Church USA's policy of divesting from companies that do business with Israel. In an announcement last week, the group, Presbyterians Concerned for Christian-Jewish Relations, said it would work to reverse a 431-62 vote last July at the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly in favor of divestment. Church officials have said they do not know how much of the church's $7 billion in assets are invested in Israel, and no action has been taken yet to divest. "As Presbyterians, we're deeply concerned about the character and future of the Presbyterian Church," said William Harter, co-convener of Presbyterians Concerned for Christian-Jewish Relations. "In August we declared ourselves as opposed to the divestment decision, as isolating and targeting Israel for criticism as the impediment to Middle East peace and not recognizing that there other countries who are in that part of the world whose cooperation is necessary for the peace process." The decision by the church's democratic assembly last summer infuriated Jewish officials and shook the foundations of Presbyterian-Jewish alliances on social issues in America. A few weeks after the vote, Jewish interfaith leaders began meeting with Presbyterian leaders and officials at other churches to convey their concern and dismay and urge them not to make one-sided decisions on Israel-related issues. The Presbyterians have stood by their vote. Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church, acknowledged after a meeting with Jews in September that the church perhaps should have consulted with Jews first to learn more about the issue, but he said the church's position would remain in place. Kirkpatrick stressed that the General Assembly vote did not mandate divestiture as a first step, but as a last resort after other attempts to change Israeli policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians have been exhausted. The committee charged with exploring options for divestment is slated to present some of its findings to the General Assembly council in March 2005, and a first vote on actual divestment could come only at the next General Assembly meeting, in 2006. Representing more than 3 million members, the Presbyterian Church USA is the ninth-largest Christian denomination in America. Harter's group wants the church to halt exploration of divestment options until the 2006 gathering, when he hopes the church plenary will vote to reverse its July 2004 vote on divestment and put the matter to rest. "In many senses, these resolutions on Israel came in under the radar screen," Harter said. "It is our sense that there are many churches that do not support the divestment policy. It would be a mistake to move ahead until those voices registered." Harter's group is not the first to speak out against the vote, but the others that have done so have been either Christian-Jewish interfaith groups or fringe elements within the Presbyterian church. By contrast, Harter's groups represents mainstream churches and seminaries, according to Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, an interfaith expert with the Anti-Defamation League. "They are very respected leaders in the Presbyterian community," he said of the ministers and church lay leaders behind Presbyterians Concerned for Christian-Jewish Relations, a 20-year-old group. "I can only assume that they represent at least a substantial proportion of people within the community." Bretton-Granatoor said the ADL and other Jewish groups would not get involved with this particular effort. "It's an internal Presbyterian debate, which we're happy to see," Bretton-Granatoor said. "We in Jewish community are trying to stay as far away from them as possible because we don't want people to say this is part of a Jewish cabal or something." Representatives of the Presbyterian Church did not return calls seeking comment.