{"id":180098,"date":"2025-12-12T11:17:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/180098\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:17:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:17:15","slug":"nyc-pension-holdings-in-israeli-firm-under-comptroller-lander-is-thorny-issue-for-candidate-lander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/180098\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC pension holdings in Israeli firm under Comptroller Lander is thorny issue for candidate Lander"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under Comptroller Brad Lander\u2019s management, New York City\u2019s public pension funds have seen windfalls from investments in an Israeli arms manufacturer \u2014 a boon that could become an awkward pressure point for Lander as he mounts a 2026 primary challenge<\/a> against Congressman Dan Goldman.<\/p>\n

Lander, a sharp critic of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza<\/a>, made clear in an interview with the Daily News after his campaign launch Wednesday that he plans to use the issue as a cudgel against Goldman, who has come under fire from left-wing Democrats for his support of Israel amid the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both believe that Hamas\u2019 attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 were a war crime, but I, along with most of the district, also believe that Netanyahu\u2019s leveling of schools and hospitals is a war crime, and [Goldman\u2019s] inability to reckon with that has rendered him unable to serve the district,\u201d Lander told The News.<\/p>\n

\u201cMembers of Congress set U.S. foreign policy so they have a real role to play here. It\u2019s American taxpayer dollars that are paying for the 2,000-pound bombs that Netayahu is dropping on civilians in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that line of attack is a fraught path for Lander for several reasons \u2014 including the fact that the city\u2019s public pension funds have under his watch as comptroller increased investment in Elbit Systems, the largest supplier of weapons to the Israel Defense Forces, records reviewed by The News show. As recently as this past March, in fact, Lander touted that investment to an Orthodox Jewish radio host.<\/p>\n

A self-described \u201cliberal Zionist,\u201d Lander was at one point in his career more supportive of Israel. A decade ago, he and other local politicians visited the country even as he faced protests for doing so from groups angered by Israel\u2019s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.<\/p>\n

Now, Lander is honing his anti-war attack line against Goldman as he has already secured an endorsement for his campaign from incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose November election was boosted by a wide win in Goldman\u2019s Lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn-based 10th Congressional District.<\/p>\n

A longtime critic of Israel\u2019s treatment of Palestinians, Mamdani has said he believes Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza as part of the war launched in response to Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack. Lander is among a number of allies who could capitalize politically from embracing a similar stance, but the Elbit investments could complicate that.<\/p>\n

The pension funds\u2019 holdings in Elbit exceed $1.5 million, the new records show. That\u2019s part of roughly $300 million Lander\u2019s office has previously said the funds hold in total in various Israeli companies.<\/p>\n

The records show the city\u2019s second largest fund, the Teachers\u2019 Retirement System, which covers pension payments for public educators, controls the biggest chunk of the city\u2019s Elbit stock, holding over $1 million in company shares as of this past June 30, the most recent date for which detailed data is available.<\/p>\n

That marks a 268% increase over the just shy of $280,000 the TRS fund held in Elbit a year earlier on June 30, 2024, disclosures show. About half of the increase between 2024 and 2025 can be attributed to the value of Elbit\u2019s stock surging, but the remaining chunk of the TRS\u2019 Elbit growth in that period came from purchases of new shares, per the records.<\/p>\n

The comptroller is the custodian of the city\u2019s five pension funds and, with advice from their boards, executes investments.<\/p>\n

As of June 30, 2021, the last disclosure before Lander became comptroller in January 2022, the city\u2019s pension funds held less than $250,000 in Elbit stock total.<\/p>\n

The IDF has been accused<\/a> of using Elbit weapons in strikes that have killed Palestinian civilians during the war in Gaza launched in response to Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack. Several European governments have divested from the arms producer in protest of its supplying of the IDF.<\/a><\/p>\n

Dan Goldman<\/p>\n

\"Congressman<\/p>\n

Shawn Inglima\/for New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) speaks at a press conference regarding the inhumane conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center on 29th St. in Brooklyn in August 2022. (Shawn Inglima for New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Asked about the Elbit holdings in his interview with The News, Lander suggested the comptroller has very different responsibilities than a member of Congress and that pension fund investments must by law only be viewed through a \u201cfiduciary lens\u201d of securing maximum returns for city government retirees.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t bring your politics to the job of investing the pensioners\u2019 money, and I have not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also argued he hasn\u2019t personally reviewed every single pension investment move: \u201cThe comptroller doesn\u2019t pick every individual company, the comptroller hires investment managers and dozens of them to invest money consistent with a broad set of investment policy guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the Elbit holdings highlight an issue Lander has struggled to find a clear lane on.<\/p>\n

During his unsuccesful mayoral campaign, Lander told a progressive group in early 2025 the pension funds weren\u2019t invested in \u201cany\u201d Israeli government bonds<\/a> after being asked how he could as comptroller put pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The funds at the time actually held more than $1 million in Israel bonds. Still, following Lander\u2019s claim, the group, New York Progressive Action Network, endorsed Lander\u2019s mayoral run.<\/p>\n

Speaking around the same time<\/a> to Zev Brenner, an Orthodox Jewish radio host, Lander struck a different note as he affirmed he remains opposed to the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement that calls for pulling money out of Israel over its government\u2019s treatment of Palestinians.\u00a0In that appearance, he specifically touted the Elbit investments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New York City pension funds are proudly invested in many Israeli-owned companies, tech companies like Nice Ltd, Elbit Systems, Mobileye, Teva Pharmaceutical \u2026 and no, of course, we\u2019re not going to divest from them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"ZohranZohran Mamdani speaks alongside New York City Comptroller Brad Lander at his victory party early Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Queens, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

In 2015, while serving as a City Council member, Lander went to Israel with other lawmakers for an all expenses-paid trip. At the time, Jewish Voice for Peace, a local group that backed Mamdani for mayor this year, had called on Lander and the other Council members to cancel the visit, writing in a petition<\/a>: \u201cDo not neglect your official responsibilities to our diverse city by touring an apartheid state.\u201d<\/p>\n

At other times, Lander has said he\u2019s not doing enough to push back on Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I have not done enough to speak out against Israel\u2019s war crimes, against ethnic cleansing, against forced starvation of Palestinians,\u201d Lander said this September<\/a> while appearing alongside Mamdani at a Jews for Racial and Economic Justice event.<\/p>\n

A Goldman rep declined to comment on the Israeli pension fund investments under Lander.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for Mamdani, who endorsed Lander\u2019s congressional run in conjunction with his campaign launch, didn\u2019t return a request for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Under Comptroller Brad Lander\u2019s management, New York City\u2019s public pension funds have seen windfalls from investments in an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[114739,56039,138,114738,114737,246,16945,5873,9728,111,139,69,14786,14535,244,245,49483],"class_list":{"0":"post-180098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-10th-congressional-district","9":"tag-brad-lander","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-dan-goldman","12":"tag-elbit-systems","13":"tag-finance","14":"tag-gaza","15":"tag-israel","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-palestine","21":"tag-pension-funds","22":"tag-personal-finance","23":"tag-personalfinance","24":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}