JERUSALEM, May 6 (UPI) -- A decision by the United Methodist Church to overturn a ban on companies allegedly linked to Israeli abuses in Gaza is a positive step, Jewish activists say.

The United Methodist Church turned down proposals to divest from companies such as Caterpillar and Motorola that some claim support the Israeli blockade on Gaza and profit from it, The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.

"We clearly have many friends and have made many friends community by community and that's a lot of what this is about," Ethan Felson with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs told the Post.

Felson said the measure is a sign of Evangelical support for Israel and a signal of a movement away from blaming the Jewish state for the problems of the Palestinians, the newspaper said.