Keep faith: Why the Jewish community shouldn’t abandon engagement efforts with mainline Protestants

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin once said: “You don’t make peace with friends.”

I’ve been thinking about this message in response to calls for a pivot from the Jewish community’s traditional interfaith allies and its approach to engaging the mainline Protestant community — and in light of the positive results of Pathways’ engagement efforts around two major denominational gatherings this summer.

Pathways focuses on promoting constructive approaches to the Israel-Palestine conflict and countering antisemitism in mainline Protestant churches. Earlier this summer, two major mainline Protestant denominations gathered for their national assemblies: The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). The expectation was that each would likely produce statements and resolutions that would pile onto the rhetoric continuing to emerge from campuses — calls to label Israel as an apartheid state and denounce the “genocide” in Gaza, demand for divestment from and boycott of Israeli institutions, and renewed efforts to condemn Zionism and the existence of a Jewish state.

These attitudes do more than just reflect the mob mentality playing out in various venues: When they come from purported voices of morality, it helps create justification for unfair attacks and double standards against Israel.

This summer, after Oct. 7, we expected the worst. In preparation, we coordinated teams of clergy comprised of allies within TEC and PCUSA to educate the delegates to their respective assemblies. These teams were equipped with compelling resources to counter one-sided assertions and attacks, and they executed a strong ground game to confront misinformation and deter harmful resolutions. They provided witness testimony countering the statements of Jewish Voices for Peace, among others, shared curated opinion and analysis pieces about Oct. 7 and the current situation in Gaza and provided critical context to help clergy and lay leadership understand the complexity of the conflict.

The result? The best possible outcome for those who care about and value Israel as a Jewish state and a balanced approach to problem-solving for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

No resolutions were passed at the PCUSA gathering referring to Israel, the conflict in Gaza or genocide and apartheid. A resolution was passed that was critical of Christian Zionism, a movement among certain Christians who believe that God blesses anyone who is a friend of the Jews and who often view the establishment of the state of Israel as a necessary step to the coming of the end of days and redemption. This movement is controversial among many mainline Christians, and we feared that a critical resolution would be an entry point to denouncing Zionism as a whole. Thankfully, an amendment was passed that separated any discussion of Christian Zionism from Zionism in the Jewish community, shutting this down as a potential avenue of attack.

At the Episcopal assembly, Pathways was instrumental in efforts to defeat three resolutions that sought to define Israel as an apartheid state. Additional resolutions focused on Christian Zionism were amended to ensure that the focus remained on Christian Zionism. Finally, Pathways and our allies put forth a resolution on antisemitism that was approved by the General Convention and is now part of the canon of the denomination.

In a difficult time for all of us, particularly the Jewish community, we wanted to share these positive outcomes with you. We also want to highlight several important takeaways as we continue to address these challenges in mainline and progressive church movements and prepare for the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) denominational assemblies next summer.

Some people don’t prioritize engaging with mainline denominations or progressive Christians because they already think it is an unwinnable battle. As we saw this summer, that doesn’t have to be the case. What is needed is more engagement in strategic, smart ways like the type of Christian-to-Christian communication efforts Pathways engages in every day. Of all the religious communities in American society, mainline communities live in the closest proximity — geographically and politically — to the Jewish community. Engaging Evangelicals, Catholics, Latinos, Indians and others demographic groups that may be more numerous and aligned with a positive perspective on Israel should not be a substitute for directly engaging those who may present more critical or hostile perspectives. This is where Prime Minister Rabin’s quote is most relevant. After all, these antagonistic voices help provide the moral cover for popular attacks on Israel, even if they are misguided. We recognize that the Jewish community is facing an explosion of antisemitism and efforts to delegitimize Israel on campuses and beyond. We have heard from many Jewish friends who, in the aftermath of Oct. 7, feel “ghosted” by Christian friends they believed were allies.We regret this failure, and we want you to know that there are many in mainline Christian churches who are committed to fighting antisemitism and encouraging a balanced approach to the conflict in Israel/Palestine. We need to do more work to encourage clergy to stand up for the Jewish community, reject antisemitism, and call for more fairness in response to what is happening in Israel and Palestine. Pathways needs to grow our Pathways Clergy Network and offer more resources like our Handbook for Engaging Progressive Christian Clergy to help mainline Christian clergy, progressive Christians and allies respond to those within our movements who call to undermine Israel or offer overly simplistic or one-sided “solutions” to the conflicts in the region. We are happy to work with Jewish communities to engage local Christian and Jewish clergy, to train leaders in how best to engage mainline and progressive Christian audiences, and to develop local plans to amplify other constructive and friendly voices of faith in your community.We are also launching “Behind the Headlines” missions to Israel, which may be appropriate for clergy in your community or as a custom trip planned for community members.

Especially in light of Pathways’ recent successes this summer, now is the time to invest in and adopt smart strategies for engaging mainline and progressive Christians.We look forward to helping our friends and allies in the Jewish community to do so.

Pastor Todd Stavrakos serves as pastor at Gladwyne Presbyterian Church in Gladwyne, Penn., and is a member of the board of directors of Pathways.