NEW YORK- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) agrees with B’nai B’rith that Jewish organizations should end all dialogue with the Presbyterian Church USA, in response to the Presbyterians’ call on corporations worldwide to cancel their investments in Israel.

At its recent 216th General Assembly, the Presbyterian Church (USA) called for the divestment of holdings by multinational corporations doing business with Israel; denounced Israel as a racist, apartheid state for defending itself against suicide bombers; and decided to fund missionary activities aimed at converting American Jews to Christianity.

The ZOA agrees with B’nai B’rith that the Presbyterian Church USA’s statements constitute “hostile declarations.”

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: “No dialogue is possible with those who endanger Israel’s existence by encouraging international economic warfare against the Jewish State, and who reject the right of Jews to practice their own religion.”

During 1991-1992, Klein led Jewish activist efforts in Philadelphia to expose and challenge anti-Israel programs sponsored by the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, the largest Presbyterian church in the Philadelphia area. The controversy gained national attention when Lynn Yeakel, a vice-president of the Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, became the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate and mounted a serious challenge to U.S. Senator Arlen Specter. Klein’s campaign was widely credited with having influenced many Jews to support Specter, thus providing his narrow margin of victory in the election.