Hillary Clinton Slams Methodist Church for Boycott Israel Push

Image by Getty Images
Speaking out on an Israel divestment resolution up for vote at her own church, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton issued a harsh rebuke of the proposed move and reaffirmed her stance the BDS movement.
“I believe that BDS seeks to punish Israel and dictate how the Israelis and Palestinians should resolve the core issues of their conflict,” Clinton wrote to leaders of the Israel Action Network and of the Jewish Federations of North America. Clinton argued that while she remains convinced that a two-state solution is best for Israel’s future, this goal can only be reached by direct negotiations between the parties. “It cannot be imposed from the outside or by unilateral actions,” Clinton wrote.
The United Methodist Church, America’s largest mainline protestant denomination, is set to consider in its convention in Portland, Oregon this week a series of resolutions calling for divesting church funds from several U.S. companies which are described by backers of the resolution as profiting from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
Clinton has been a lifelong member of the United Methodist church, was married by a Methodist minister and attended a United Methodist church in Washington as First Lady.
Her statement came in response to a letter from heads of the two Jewish organizations who asked Clinton to speak out on the issue before members of the church vote on the resolutions. “As a passionate advocate for a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians, and someone who has been outspoken about the dangers of anti- Israel BDS movement, your voice is very much needed this week,” wrote IAN chair David Sherman and JFNA vice chair Susan Stern to Clinton.
Clinton has been outspoken in her rejection of BDS and made this point also in a letter to Haim Saban, one of her major backers, last July.
Clinton did not mention in her letter to IAN her affiliation with the United Methodist Church. She reiterated her commitment to fighting BDS and other unilateral moves aimed at isolating Israel. “It would be a serious mistake for the United States to abandon our responsibilities, or cede the mantle of leadership for global peace and security to anyone else,” Clinton wrote.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
In Case You Missed It
-
Film & TV Val Kilmer was the voice of my generation’s Moses (and God)
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker spoke at a synagogue on Yom Kippur. Its rabbi says Jews should learn from his 25-hour Senate speech.
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker’s rabbi has notes on Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech
-
Fast Forward Naftali Bennett is back: Former Israeli prime minister will make another run at Netanyahu
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.