SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 9: Many American Protestant churches are pressing for economic sanctions against certain companies doing business with Israel - namely those that profit from the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, says a report.

The Presbyterian church last November decided to consider divesting such businesses from its $8 billion portfolio, while the Episcopal Church and other churches are likely to follow suit, the report says adding that this move is causing tensions between mainline Protestant churches and the American Jewish community over their differing views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The church's committee on socially responsible investment will identify firms that provide services or equipment to support the military occupation or Jewish settlements; finance or assist in building the wall; or provide help to Israeli or Palestinian groups that commit violence against innocent civilians.

In November, the Presbyterian Church received a letter threatening arson against Presbyterian churches unless it halted the divestment process. Last week, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs asked Protestants to reject divestment in favour of joint efforts to end the conflict.

Tensions between the Protestant churches and the Jewish community heightened when a Presbyterian delegation travelling in the Middle East in October met with members of Hizbullah, the Lebanese group on the US terrorist list.

The US Episcopal Church, meanwhile, said it would begin to study how it should respond to companies that contribute to the occupation's infrastructure or to violence against civilians. It will include Jewish groups, Palestinians, and the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem.

Mainline churches have supported Israel since 1948 and reject terrorism; they also have longstanding ties to churches in the Holy Land and are critical of Israeli military practices in the territories.

Illegal expansion of Israeli settlements and a new security wall that encroaches on Palestinian land are making a viable Palestinian state less feasible, Presbyterians and others say. With the US government taking little action to help matters, they add, unusual measures are required.