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A LEADING Church of Scotland minister has criticised Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

The Very Reverend Gilleasbuig Macmillan commented days after a Kirk report questioned any claim of a divine right to particular territory.

The report, which is due to be debated at the general assembly next week, was redrafted after complaints, including from Israel's ambassador to the UK.

Mr Macmillan, who is stepping down as minister at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, said he has strong feeling about the State of Israel.

"The Palestinians have not been the most shining example of a law-abiding democracy or careful planning, but the creation of these new settlements on the West Bank, the taking-over of the water supply, the building of that dividing wall, separating people from their own orchards so they can't pick their own fruit without enormous diversion around gates and security barriers - it's difficult to know how the world has tolerated that," he told a newspaper.

"United Nations resolutions have spoken against it, yet they continue."

The initial Kirk report asked whether the Old Testament really sanctioned "future occupation" of the land which it said drove out some 750,000 people.

Referring to views in the Bible, the report stated: "It can be concluded that Christians should not be supporting any claims by Jewish or any other people, to an exclusive or even privileged divine right to possess particular territory.

"It is a misuse of the Bible to use it as a topographic guide to settle contemporary conflicts over land. In the Bible, God's promises extend in hope to all land and people."

It provoked an angry reaction from the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities which described the report as "an outrage to everything that interfaith dialogue stands for".

The council stated: "It reads like an Inquisition-era polemic against Jews and Judaism. It is biased, weak on sources, and contradictory. The picture it paints of both Judaism and Israel is barely even a caricature."

The Church subsequently held "useful" discussions with Jewish representatives and clarified that there is no change to the "long held position of the right of Israel to exist".

It also condemned all acts of terrorism and said concerns about injustices faced by Palestinians "should not be misunderstood as questioning the right of the State of Israel to exist".