NYC Comptroller breaks campaign promise to Jewish voters to buy Israel Bonds, drawing praise from Mamdani

“This has been a rock-solid investment for New York City for decades …. Israel has never missed a bond payment!”

NYC Comptroller breaks campaign promise to Jewish voters to buy Israel Bonds, drawing praise from Mamdani

The decision, first reported by The New York Times, is a significant reversal for Levine, the city’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official, who repeatedly promised last year to restore the investments after his predecessor ended a nearly 50-year practice of buying Israeli government debt.

The city’s pension funds previously held $39 million in Israel Bonds, which returned roughly 5%. Former Comptroller Brad Lander, who is also Jewish, decided not to purchase new bonds when the holdings matured in 2023, citing the city’s policy against investing in foreign government debt.

In an interview with the Times, Levine cited financial concerns and technical challenges, including those related to the war in Gaza and Israel’s political instability, in explaining why Israel Bonds are “not an investment that we can make right now.”

He insisted the decision was not driven by political pressure or a shift in his personal support for Israel, and left open the possibility of purchasing Israel Bonds in the future. The pension funds still hold $285 million in Israel-related assets, including common stocks and more than $1 million in Israeli real estate investment trusts.

The move was nonetheless a political victory for Mamdani, a longtime supporter of boycotts of Israel, who opposed the bond purchases and has sought to reshape New York City’s relationship with Israel, politically, emotionally and economically.

“I welcome the comptroller’s decision,” Mamdani told the Forward on Wednesday. “It is something that I’ve said in the past … I don’t believe that our city should purchase Israel bonds. We don’t purchase the bonds of any other sovereign nation. I don’t think that we should make an exception when it comes to Israel.” The mayor can neither prevent the investment nor overrule it.

Lander, now a congressional candidate, also voiced his approval via text message. “The pension funds are not invested in the bonds of other foreign countries,” Lander said, “and previous comptrollers’ decisions to buy Israel bonds nonetheless were a political move, not a fiduciary one.”

Why Levine changed his mind

For Jewish voters who supported Levine’s campaign, the reversal raises questions about a promise he made while seeking the office of the city’s chief financial officer.

“This has been a rock-solid investment for decades,” he said during the campaign. “Israel has never missed a bond payment, and a good, balanced portfolio should have global diversity.”

When Mamdani suggested Lander’s move should become permanent, Levine pushed back. “Israel bonds have never missed a payment in 70 years, ever, not once,” he said in April. “They pay excellent interest.”

He also called out critics who had been protesting outside his office. “We have had no protesting about our investments in Saudi Arabia, our investments in Pakistan or China, only this one little, tiny sliver,” Levine said.

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