Just before breaking for lunch today, the 219th Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly approved a radically revised version of the report from its Middle East Study Committee (known in procedural code as 14-08). The vote was 558 affirmative, 119 negative, 7 abstaining. The revised report can be found here.

Jewish leaders had complained about the initial report's anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bias. See, for example, this March 15 release from the Jewish Council on Public Affairs.

The original report also met resistance from key leaders within the PC(USA). In mid-June, eight former moderators of the General Assembly circulated a critical letter. Then, yesterday, following sustained negotiations, the eight moderators issued a public statement calling for support of the heavily revised document. As a result, General Assembly debate referred repeatedly to the work of the Holy Spirit in bridging differences.

After major surgery, the report no longer gives a general endorsement to the Palestinian ...

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