By Marianne Dhenin<\/p>\n
This article was originally published by Truthout<\/a><\/p>\n New York\u2019s comptroller invested over $100 million in Israel Bonds since 2023. A movement is building to stop this.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A New York campaign is angling to be the next to notch a win in a nationwide struggle for divestment from bonds that fund Israel and its attacks<\/a> on Palestinians. Break the Bonds New York State<\/a> is part of a nationwide initiative<\/a> launched by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which seeds and supports local efforts to demand divestment from Israel Bonds. The initiative launched in 2024, when news of Israel\u2019s genocide was impossible to ignore, and a growing number of Americans were looking for ways to throw sand in the gears.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen, as a result of grassroots campaigning and the persistence of local organizers, a series of victories everywhere from Michigan to Maryland [and] Minnesota, where state treasurers, local treasurers, et cetera, have made the decision to not reinvest in Israel bonds,\u201d Dani Noble, senior campaigns organizer at JVP and member leader of JVP-Philadelphia, told Truthout. Noble helps coordinate the nationwide network of Break the Bonds campaigns, which currently includes the New York campaign and 14 others. Break the Bonds New York State itself is a coalition of organizations<\/a>, including JVP and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) chapters, as well as Palestine solidarity and civil rights groups from across the state.<\/p>\n The municipal and state investments targeted in Break the Bonds campaigns account for some of the more than $1.6 billion in Israel Bonds<\/a> held by state governments, municipal governments, and public pension funds nationwide. The Development Corporation for Israel sells those bonds to raise foreign funds for the Israeli treasury. Bondholders maintain no oversight of how their funds are used once invested. Dayna Locitzer, an organizer with JVP-Hudson Valley and Break the Bonds New York State, told Truthout the bonds are essentially \u201cblank checks to the Israeli government.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cApartheid is expensive, occupation is expensive, genocide is expensive, and military activity is expensive,\u201d Locitzer said. \u201cSo, we know that the budget of the Israeli government is largely allocated for military operations, and part of military operation is the intense oppression of the Palestinian people and the denial of their sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n But Break the Bonds organizers also point out that it\u2019s not just the connection to Israel\u2019s military that makes Israel Bonds problematic. Since Israel invaded Gaza in October 2023, the Big Three credit rating agencies have downgraded the country\u2019s rating and warned of a negative outlook for its growth, public finances, and ballooning debt \u2014 signs that investments in Israel Bonds are higher-risk. Moody\u2019s reaffirmed this July<\/a> that Israel\u2019s rating remains the worst it has ever been, at Baa1, a level it first sank to<\/a> in September 2024. Organizers question whether officials who continue to use public funds to purchase such poorly rated investments could be violating their fiduciary duties. They also argue that funds could be better invested at home in instruments such as municipal bonds or affordable housing mortgage bonds.<\/p>\n \u201cThese investments are unethical, they are potentially illegal, and they are financially irresponsible,\u201d Noble told Truthout. \u201cAnd our treasurers and our financial officers that are stewards of public funds should be listening to our communities when we say, \u2018Put our communities first instead of using public funds to signal support for the Israeli military.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Break the Bonds New York State is targeting the New York State Common Retirement Fund<\/a>. That fund holds over $360 million in Israel Bonds<\/a>, making it one of the top U.S. investors in the bonds. It provides benefits to the more than 1.2 million members<\/a> of the state retirement system, including workers retired from<\/a> local schools, fire departments, public libraries, and more.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have people in our campaign who are pensioners, and they are outraged,\u201d Lisa Mulleneaux, an organizer with JVP Hudson Valley and Break the Bonds New York State, told Truthout. \u201c[It\u2019s] not just that their money\u2019s being invested in this way, but that they don\u2019t know how it\u2019s being invested \u2014 that lack of transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n New York\u2019s retirement fund has become one of the largest U.S. investors in Israel Bonds in no small part thanks to the current state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli. As the administrative head of the state retirement system and sole trustee of the retirement fund<\/a>, DiNapoli has sweeping power over investment decisions. Break the Bonds New York State organizers argue that he has wielded that power to express political support for Israel. Particularly since October 2023, Locitzer told Truthout, \u201cit became very clear that his investment in Israel Bonds was politically motivated rather than necessarily motivated by the interests of New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n DiNapoli participated in a wave<\/a> of investment in Israel Bonds in the days following the October 7 attacks, purchasing $20 million in Israel Bonds for the state retirement fund. In a press release announcing the purchase<\/a>, DiNapoli said he felt \u201cheartened that so many other public funds have stepped forward to purchase bonds and support Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n He has continued to increase the fund\u2019s holdings in Israel Bonds since then, even as credit rating agencies downgraded Israel. When DiNapoli was a guest speaker at a briefing hosted by the Development Corporation for Israel in April 2024, he boasted that he had invested<\/a> over $100 million of state pension funds in Israel Bonds in the six months since October 7, 2023. Break the Bonds New York State organizers estimate, based on releases from DiNapoli\u2019s office, that the comptroller has purchased over $145 million in Israel Bonds since that October alone.<\/p>\n Organizers have also raised questions about DiNapoli\u2019s seemingly close relationship with the Development Corporation for Israel and the Jewish Community Relations Council, which sponsored a February 2024 trip<\/a> he took to Israel. The Jewish Community Relations Council received at least $10,000<\/a> from the Development Corporation for Israel, calling itself Israel Bonds, in 2024, according to the organization\u2019s website.<\/p>\n An itinerary of DiNapoli\u2019s so-called \u201cIsrael Solidarity Mission\u201d in February 2024, which Break the Bonds New York State organizers obtained in a public records request, shows that he was slated to meet with a Development Corporation for Israel board member during the four-day trip. Additional public records also revealed that the New York State Commission on Public Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) had raised concerns that the sponsored trip could create an impression of improper influence, though it ultimately approved the Jewish Community Relations Council\u2019s reimbursement.<\/p>\n Mulleneaux said she has filed complaints with the ethics commission over DiNapoli\u2019s connections to these groups, arguing that his actions violate his ethical obligations and undermine public trust. A Break the Bonds New York State organizer also testified about the issue<\/a> at COELIG\u2019s annual public hearing in September 2025. \u201cThis [is] an incredibly close relationship,\u201d Mulleneaux told Truthout. \u201cThe comptroller, who is the sole arbiter of how the pension funds get invested, is basically in bed with the [Development Corporation for Israel], the sales organization, and with the organization [the Jewish Community Relations Council] that has paid for his trips to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n DiNapoli\u2019s penchant for Israel Bonds became an issue during this year\u2019s primary election, in which he faced two challengers<\/a> who both pledged<\/a> to stop buying Israel Bonds if elected. Organizers hosted an online comptroller candidate forum<\/a> in June, where DiNapoli\u2019s challengers shared their positions<\/a>. Mie Inouye, an organizer with Mid-Hudson Valley DSA and Break the Bonds New York State who moderated the forum, told Truthout that DiNapoli was invited but did not attend or respond to invitations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that he declined to participate in and of itself was significant,\u201d Inouye said. \u201cWe know that nationally, a majority of Democrats are opposed to these investments and [DiNapoli\u2019s] unilateral approach to investments in Israel Bonds and refusal to listen to constituents\u2019 objections is undemocratic and against the interests of the working-class people he represents.\u201d<\/p>\n Recent polling has shown that nearly three-quarters of Democratic voters<\/a> oppose military aid to Israel. Similar polling specific to the question of Israel Bonds does not exist, but knowledge of the issue seems to be growing in the U.S.<\/p>\n DiNapoli won the primary, but he will continue to face mounting pressure as he enters his next term if he is reelected in November over a Republican challenger. Already, last October, Break the Bonds New York State activists marched to his Albany office to deliver more than 3,400 petition signatures<\/a> asking him to stop investing in Israel Bonds. Also in October, the Common Council of the City of Hudson became the first city in the state to pass a resolution<\/a> calling for the same. Then, in January, Democracy for the Arab World Now issued a cease and desist letter<\/a> arguing that investments in Israel Bonds violate \u201cinternational and domestic legal obligations and expose citizens to unnecessary legal, financial and reputational harms.\u201d<\/p>\n Break the Bonds New York State organizers are committed to continuing their outreach and organizing with public sector workers until the state comptroller\u2019s office commits to no longer purchasing Israel Bonds. They told Truthout it feels like the tide is turning. \u201cPeople want to know how public funds are being invested and allocated,\u201d Inouye said, \u201cand I think people really want to understand what we can do as Americans to divest ourselves from this genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n This article<\/a> was originally published by Truthout<\/a> and is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)<\/a>. Please maintain all links and credits in accordance with our republishing guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n