NYC comptroller reverses campaign pledge, rules out Israel Bonds

(Oct. 14, 2026 / JNS)

New York City Comptroller Mark Levine, who oversees investments for the city’s five public pension funds, which hold more than $326 billion in assets, has reversed a campaign pledge and told The New York Times that he will not invest in Israel Bonds, citing concerns about their investment strength.

“In his 10th month in office, Mark Levine has decided not to reinvest in Israeli Bonds, breaking a campaign promise on a particularly fraught issue,” wrote New York Times N.Y. City Hall reporter Sally Goldenberg. “He said he still supports Israel but that the bonds aren’t strong enough investments.”

In 2023, Levine’s predecessor, Brad Lander, who has accused Israel of “genocide,” allowed the city’s longstanding investment in Israel Bonds to lapse by declining to renew bonds that had matured. Both Levine and Lander are Jewish.

In July, Dani Naveh, president and CEO of Development Corporation for Israel, the U.S. broker-dealer known as Israel Bonds, told JNS that his organization was in ongoing discussions with Levine. According to Naveh, investment in Israel Bonds has more than doubled since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

At the time, a spokesman for Levine’s office told JNS that investment decisions were based on financial considerations, not politics.

“These are complex investment matters—not political ones,” the spokesman said. “We continue to use a rigorous review process to assess portfolio needs and work closely with our fellow trustees across each of our pension boards. Our approach is guided by our fiduciary responsibility to protect the long-term interests of our members and beneficiaries.”

Some $300 million in New York City pension funds reportedly remains invested in Israeli equities, along with a smaller amount in Israeli real estate.

Public pension investment decisions are subject to fiduciary duties, requiring officials and trustees to act in beneficiaries’ interests. Levine’s office serves as investment adviser to the city’s five pension systems, whose boards make asset allocation decisions with input from investment professionals.

New York state, meanwhile, has $360 million invested in Israel Bonds under State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. DiNapoli recently won a decisive primary victory over candidates who advocated divestment from Israel.

In June, the Anti-Defamation League released an analysis estimating that if New York City divests from companies that conduct business with and in Israel, it could cause more than $37 billion in taxpayer “potential forgone value” between 2025 and 2035. The estimate was based on historical performance differences between hypothetical investment portfolios, not on divestment from Israel Bonds alone.

Several commentators criticized Levine’s decision.

Peter Sterne, news and opinion editor at City & State New York, wrote that “policy-wise, this isn’t surprising,” given that New York City does not invest in foreign government bonds and Israel’s ongoing multi-front war could affect perceptions of its sovereign debt risk. “But politically, it’s an earthquake,” he wrote.

Jon Levine of the Washington Free Beacon called it “a nakedly political concession to Mamdani from Mark Levine, who ran for office promising the exact opposite—genuinely stunned.”

Dov Hikind, a former New York state assemblyman, criticized the decision as “a perfect example of a coward: a sellout and a fraud trying to appease the dangerous lunatics on the left driving N.Y. and the country off a cliff. Shame on you.”