Leaders of three Jewish streams launched a “national consultation” with the Presbyterians in the wake of differences over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, who heads the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Rabbi Jerome Epstein, the Conservative movement’s executive vice president; Carl Sheingold, the Reconstructionist movement’s executive vice president; and Reform President Rabbi Eric Yoffie met last week in Louisville at the Presbyterian Center.

The principal focus was the Presbyterian Church’s decision this year to roll back Israel divestment initiatives.

“We discussed frankly and openly our different perceptions of the situation in the region and found some ways to begin working together in this area that has most divided us in the past,” a joint statement said.

The leaders affirmed “that peace for Israel and the Palestinians should be built on the foundations of security, justice, and the establishment of two viable states.”

Yoffie said, “It would be a mistake to say that we’re at exactly the same place on Israel. But the significant differences that generated so much anger in the Jewish community have been addressed, so we are all at this point anxious to move on.”