The Israeli Embassy has warned that a Palestinian Christian document which the Church of England recommended its members to consider risks creating “a more permissive environment for antisemitism”.
Israel’s outgoing chargé d’affaires, Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, met the archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, on Tuesday following last week’s vote by the General Synod, the church’s governing body, to encourage engagement with the document, known as Kairos II.
In a statement after the meeting, the embassy said that Grudsky Ekstein had conveyed Israel’s “grave concerns” over Kairos II, which it called a “deeply troubling text that rejects the legitimacy of the State of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state”.
The document, which accuses Israel of genocide and describes it as a colonial settler state, did not advance peace of coexistence, the embassy said.
“It promotes a one-sided and deeply distorted narrative, erases Jewish history and self-determination, and applies standards to Israel that would never be demanded of any other country.
“Its language risks legitimising hostility towards Israel and creating a more permissive environment for antisemitism, with serious consequences for the well-being and security of British Jews, Israelis, and supporters of Israel.
“Just as troublingly, the document largely disregards Christian suffering under Palestinian terror and erases the experiences of Israeli victims of terrorism, including the atrocities of October 7 and the continuing trauma of the hostages and their families.”
Israel remained committed to freedom of religion and the support of Christian communities, the chargé d’affaires told the archbishop.
At the Synod debate, the archbishop said: “To hear the heartfelt expressions of the lived experiences of the Palestinian Christians does not mean we agree with everything in these documents – but it does mean that we listen with compassion, and stand in solidarity with them amidst the many injustices they face.”
Palestine was “disappearing,” she said, and Palestinian Christians faced an existential threat.
Against that desperate backdrop, she said, “we are called to a new and active solidarity,” adding: “We must not ignore the urgency of this moment.”
“Especially with the abhorrent rise in antisemitism in this country, we must be vigilant about the long and terrible history of Christian anti-Jewish hatred.
“We must not add to this history: we must continue our journey of repentance and ongoing dialogue.”
The archbishop’s office has been approached for comment
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