The International Fellowship of Christians and Jew, the leader in promoting Christian-Jewish unity, blasted the United Methodist Church decision to blacklist some Israeli banks as a desperate attack by a shrinking religious movement.

“God is clearly honoring the churches that stand with Israel and the Jewish people by bringing about huge growth with them, and at the same time Methodist churches are sitting empty and their affiliation is way down,” said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of The Fellowship.

The pension fund of the United Methodist Church, the largest Protestant group in the U.S., The United Methodist Church, a Protestant denomination numbering over seven m numbering 7 million members, announced it will not invest in five Israeli banks in protest of their role in financing Israeli settlement activity beyond the 1967 Green Line.

The move is considered a victory for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, an ad hoc campaign driven by pro-Palestinian supporters eager to rally international opinion against Israel by targeting its economic interests as punishment for its policies with regards to the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel and its supporters claim that BDS proponents use human rights for Palestinians as a thinly veiled disguise meant to cover up their real aim of drying up the country economically and bringing about its destruction.

The church’s blacklist includes Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank and Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot.

Rabbi Eckstein stressed that ‘’for years millions of Christians have faithfully stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel and the Jewish people, despite cynical and hate-filled attempts to demonize Israel, and for that we remain deeply thankful.’’

He said the Methodist church pension board’s decision this week to blacklist five Israeli banks for financing Jewish construction on the West Bank would only fan the flames of conflict.

“Boycotting divides people and stirs deeper hatred for Israel and the Jewish people, rather than encouraging peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” he said.