NYC Comptroller Defends Decision On Israeli Bonds

BY JAMES FANELLI

New York City Comptroller Mark Levine on Thursday defended his decision not to use the city’s pension funds to invest in Israeli bonds, after the Jewish Democrat faced mounting criticism for backtracking on a key campaign promise.

Levine, who controls how some $2 billion of the city’s pension funds are invested, has faced backlash since he said in an interview earlier in the week that he would opt not to purchase the bonds. Some Jewish leaders accused him of breaking a pledge he made during last year’s comptroller race to restart buying Israeli bonds and said it could add further fuel to a rise in antisemitism.

The comptroller, who serves as the city’s fiscal hawk, said in a social-media post on Thursday that politics didn’t influence his decision. He reached his conclusion, he said, after an internal analysis by his office found the bonds weren’t a sound financial investment, especially during a time of conflict in the region.

“I expressed my deep appreciation for the Israel-NYC economic relationship during my campaign for comptroller, and that appreciation remains unchanged,” Levine said. “I also pledged to make every investment decision free of politics, based solely on its financial merits and my fiduciary responsibility to 750,000 current and future retirees.”

Israel’s war in Gaza played a high-profile role in last year’s elections in New York City, including the mayoral race. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, has been a fierce critic of Israel, accusing its government of genocide and calling for the arrest of its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The mayor has stuck to the rhetoric despite drawing rebuke from Jewish leaders, who say his words have made members of their community less safe.

Mamdani said at an unrelated press conference on Wednesday that he supported Levine’s decision. “We don’t purchase the bonds of any other sovereign nation,” he said. “I don’t think that we should make an exception when it comes to Israel.”

Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York, said Levine’s decision was misguided and would end up hurting the city’s economy. “The fact that Mayor Mamdani welcomed this decision speaks volumes,” Akunis said. “This decision will only further fuel antisemitism in New York City.”

Levine’s comments in the New York Times interview drew victory cheers from supporters of the pro-Palestinian campaign known as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, which has pressed over the past year to end city investment in the bonds.

“This is a political earthquake,” anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace said. “In the most Jewish city in the country, New Yorkers have made it clear that it’s no longer politically or financially viable to pledge unconditional support for the Israeli military and government.”