Media, both social and print, are abuzz with the historical significance and ramifications of Prince William’s recent visit to Israel. This includes close examination of the royal’s controversial itinerary on his diplomatically sensitive trip to the region.

But curiously escaping media scrutiny were the well-documented anti-Israel sentiments of the American bishop who recently delivered the royal wedding sermon for Prince William’s brother, Prince Harry.  

Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding went viral — to no one’s surprise. After all, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA engagingly and passionately argued “love is the way,” while describing the potential of love to transform the world.

However, Bishop Curry’s passion for love apparently does not extend to Israel or Israelis. 

Royal wedding watchers wowed by the bishop’s stirring sermon were likely unfamiliar with Bishop Curry’s anti-Israel activism — from attending a strategic summit co-hosted by the Palestinian Authority to signing a pro-Hamas document urging IDF soldiers to disobey orders at the Gaza-Israel border. 

The bishop recently traveled to Gaza immediately prior to the Gaza-Israel border clashes. He “added the Episcopal Church’s name” to a statement — signed by other notable anti-Israel denominations — that could only be described as an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas document. The statement called, among other things, for the Palestinian right of return, reinstatement of US funding of UNRWA, and international pressure for an end to the Gaza blockade. 

This “Statement of US Churches and Christian Agencies on Gaza” described the Great March of Return as “non-violent demonstrations” and called for an end to “the lethal use of weapons and force by the Israeli military.” It endorsed “the call by B’Tselem” for Israeli soldiers to disobey IDF orders to shoot when Gazans were “approaching the fence or even sabotaging it,” claiming that such situations were not life-threatening.

Notably, the Gaza statement also called upon the United States, “particularly President Trump and members of Congress … to censure the violent and indiscriminate actions of the State in Israel in response to the demonstrations which in no way threaten the security of the state or its citizens.” The statement’s assertion flies in the face of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s declaration, “We will take down the border and tear out their hearts from their bodies.”

Bishop Curry not only has given political cover to Hamas in their latest violent campaign aimed at tearing out Israelis’ hearts, but he has also strategized with the Palestinian Authority and its willing “Christian” accomplices to target Israel and its Christian supporters. Bishop Curry attended the 2016 Atlanta Summit hosted by former president and notable Israel critic Jimmy Carter at the Carter Center. An anti-Israel blueprint was crafted at the Summit, and Bishop Curry was prominently featured on the list of over 100 signatories of this Atlanta Summit document. 

A Summit delegation delivered to Obama administration officials a letter signed by patriarchs addressed to the then-president. Its request that the US refrain from vetoing anti-Israel resolutions at the UN was granted mere months later, when the US did not veto UN Resolution 2334 in December 2016. 

While Bishop Curry may claim to support Palestinians, he coordinates with their oppressors — the Palestinian elite, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas. In reality, he is royally anti-Israel and anti-Palestinian. 

Noah Summers is a specialist on Middle East affairs and American foreign policy.

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