Netanyahu to Presbyterians: “See What it’s Like in Other Middle Eastern Countries”

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took the Presbyterian Church-USA to task for voting in favor of divesting from three companies whose products are used by the Israeli military in post-1967 areas. Speaking at a Jerusalem conference of Jewish journalists from around the world, Netanyahu suggested that the Presbyterians charter an “armor plated” bus and tour the other nations of the Middle East before acting against Israel. Exhorting the visiting journalists to “defeat a lie with truth, with facts and with courage,” the prime minister rebuked the Presbyterians for picking on Israel, “When the Middle East is fragmented in this horrible war, this savage, savage war between militant Shiites and militant Sunnis … [and] the only place where you have freedom, tolerance, protection of minorities, protection of gays, protection of Christians and all other faiths is Israel.” After being urged for a number of years by outside forces advocating participation in the anti-Israel boycott movement, the Presbyterian conference last week voted by a narrow margin to sell-off its holdings in Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett Packard.