THE former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, condemned plans by Anglican church leaders to disinvest from companies that do business in Israel yesterday.

Lord Carey was speaking at the launch of an organisation to promote religion as an aid to tolerance and peace in Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq and Israel.

He said that the Anglican Consultative Council would be making a grave mistake if it approved an Israel divestment proposal at its meeting in Nottingham this month.

Such a step would seriously harm the peace-building work of organisations such as the Foundation for Reconciliation in the Middle East, which was established yesterday at the House of Lords.

Lord Carey said: “Israelis are already traumatised and feel that the world is against them. This proposal, if it is agreed, would be another knife in the back. Christians who owe so much to the Hebrew Scriptures and to Israel itself should not be among those who attack Israel in such a way.”

The Anglican council, the executive body for the 38 provinces worldwide, will debate whether to recommend a programme of disinvestment at its meeting on June 22.

It would be unprecedented for the council to reject the proposal, in a report by the Anglican Peace and Justice Network.

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