Overtures seek Israel embargo, genocide declaration

The 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will consider three overtures urging the denomination to take its strongest stance yet, both in word and action, on the ongoing Israel/Palestine conflict.

RIW-04, submitted by the Redwoods Presbytery, and RIW-06, submitted by the Olympia Presbytery, propose that commissioners meeting this summer in Milwaukee condemn the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza as a violation of the United Nations Genocide Convention, and call on members of the church to contact Congress and the president to block U.S. military sales to Israel until it complies with international human rights law.

A third overture, RIW-05, from the Presbytery of San Francisco, calls on the stated clerk, Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C., and church members to urge the U.S. government to enact a trade embargo on Israel until the occupation of Palestinian territory ends, apartheid policies are abolished, the West Bank separation barrier is dismantled, and Palestinian refugees are allowed to return to their lands.

Presbyterian engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict goes back to 1948

The PC(USA) and its predecessor denominations have engaged the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for more than 75 years. The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA), the northern predecessor to the PC(USA) before the 1983 reunion, recognized Israel’s right to exist in 1974. Both predecessor denominations, the UPCUSA and the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) in the South, endorsed a two-state solution in 1978 in response to the Camp David Accords, which ended a lengthy war between Israel and Egypt. Since the reunion, GA has reaffirmed that commitment numerous times, while also calling on Israel to address the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The pace of action accelerated after 1967, when Israel seized Palestinian land beyond the Green Line established in 1949 and began establishing settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. The GA has been on record against the occupation since: 

• At the 216th GA in 2004, commissioners voted 431–62 to begin a process of phased, selective divestment from multinational corporations operating in Israel. They declared the security wall, erected by Israel in Palestinian territory, illegal under international law. 
• In 2012, the 220th GA approved a boycott of products from Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, with 71% of the plenary vote. 
• Two years later, the 221st GA voted to divest from Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard for their roles in Israeli military operations in Palestinian territories.
• The 225th GA in 2022 voted 266–116 to declare Israel’s laws, policies and practices “apartheid” — the denomination’s strongest formal statement at the time. 
• At the 226th GA in 2024, commissioners approved a rejection of Christian Zionism as inconsistent with Presbyterian theology, passing it on the consent agenda after a 40–3 committee vote.

Related reading:“#GA226 International Engagement Committee votes to reject Christian Zionism in the U.S.” by Eric Ledermann, Outlook reporting

What RIW-04 proposes

RIW-04 proposes five actions. If approved, it would: 

1. condemn the Israeli government’s violation of the UN Genocide Convention, citing a January 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice finding “plausible” evidence of genocide and ordering Israel to stop; 
2. encourage members to contact Congress and the president to block military sales to Israel until it complies with international human rights law; 
3. encourage boycotts of Israeli company products;
4. stand against both antisemitism and Islamophobia; and 
5. affirm explicitly that “standing up for basic human rights is not antisemitism.”

The overture’s rationale draws on findings from four international bodies: an International Court of Justice’s ruling from January 26, 2024; a December 2024 Human Rights Watch report citing deliberate water deprivation as an act of genocide from December 2024; an Amnesty International report, also from December 2024, documenting more than 42,000 Palestinian deaths including more than 13,300 children; and a October 2024 UN Special Rapporteur report describing genocide as a form of colonial erasure.

What RIW-06 proposes

RIW-06 proposes nine actions. If approved, GA would:

1. call on the church to not remain silent to the “wanton killing that has taken place in Gaza and the Middle East”;
2. condemn “unequivocally” the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel that killed 1,200 people, a majority of whom were civilians;
3. condemn “unequivocally” Israel’s war in Gaza and the assault on Palestinians in the West Bank, reasserting the 225th GA’s labeling of Israel’s action as apartheid;
4. call Israel’s war in Gaza against the Palestinian people a genocide;
5. call on the U.S. president and Congress to stop military sales to Israel;
6. express a commitment to justice and lasting peace for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples;
7. condemn and stand against all forms of antisemitism/anti-Jewish hate and Islamophobia/anti-arab racism, as evil, while also affirming that standing up for the denomination’s values is not antisemitism.
8. encourage PC(USA) congregations to preach and teach on these critical issues; and
9. publicize the overture’s passage on the PC(USA) website and other print or digital formats.

Language that may generate debate

The word “genocide” is a step beyond “apartheid” and carries distinct legal weight under international law and, in the context of Jewish history, profound theological and moral resonance for Presbyterians and for the denomination’s Jewish interfaith partners. 

The proponents of RIW-05 and RIW-06 anticipate this. Both overtures affirm that standing up for the values of human life “is not antisemitism,” addressing directly an argument that has followed the PC(USA)’s Israel/Palestine actions for years. When commissioners approved the apartheid designation in 2022, reactions were swift and divided, with many from the Jewish community “largely disappointed or outraged.” Responses within the PC(USA) were generally positive. At GA226, Rabbi Yehiel Poupko warned that further actions condemning Israel “will widen the existing gulf between the PC(USA) and the organized Jewish community.”

Taken together, these three overtures would move the PC(USA) beyond previous statements and actions related to Israel and Palestine, including the denomination’s 2022 apartheid designation and its 2024 rejection of Christian Zionism. Whether commissioners embrace that stronger stance — and the language of genocide, embargoes and military restrictions — is likely to become one of the most closely watched and debated conversations at the 227th General Assembly.