Response Mixed to PC(USA) Labeling Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Lands as Apartheid by Eric Ledermann on The Presbyterian Outlook

In June 2022, the 225^th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), following decades of debates, voted overwhelmingly in support of Overture INT-02, declaring the Israeli government’s occupation and treatment of the Palestinian people and lands to be named as “apartheid.” Though INT-02 passed the committee with a vote of 90% and by the whole assembly with 70% of the vote, the response both inside and outside the denomination has been mixed.

… Despite efforts within the rationale of the overture and in the letter from the ten former moderators to clarify the overture is about the laws, policies and behaviors of the government of Israel, and not the people of Israel or Jewish people in general, the responses from many corners of the Jewish community in the U.S. and abroad have been highly critical.

… The American Jewish Committee (AJC) responded, saying, “The Presbyterian Church has been hijacked by anti-Israel activists,” claiming that over the years the PC(USA) has “flirted with or crossed over to antisemitism.”

According to a survey conducted in 2021 by the Jewish Electorate Institute, only 25% of U.S. Jewish voters agree that Israel is an apartheid state, with 22% agreeing that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.