It’s a story of two funding methods.
New York Metropolis Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander is being accused of “divesting” metropolis pension funds from authorities bonds of the State of Israel — allegedly breaking from his predecessors and state counterpart in a politically charged transfer.
New York Metropolis first invested $30 million in State of Israel Bonds in 1974 beneath former metropolis Comptroller Harrison Goldin, by way of the pension funds for educators, the Lecturers Retirement pension system.
Over time, successive metropolis Comptrollers Invoice Thompson, John Liu and Scott Stringer have reinvested in State of Israel bonds when bonds matured.
The New York State pension system, run by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, additionally has $363.9 million invested within the Jewish State.
Israel bonds are thought-about a strong funding, accumulating about 5% returns on common per yr, information present.
However Lander’s workplace stated that the pension funds of presidency workers of New York Metropolis — the municipality with the biggest Jewish inhabitants exterior of Israel — is now solely $1.17 million.
Solely the Police Pension Fund owns a small place of $1.17 million in Israeli Yankee bonds.
Lander’s workplace claimed that the New York Metropolis pension funds don’t make investments immediately in international sovereign debt — the bonds of different nations.
However traders in Israeli bonds stated Lander is stuffed with it — as a result of prior comptrollers have.
Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a former CUNY trustee and Israel bond investor, accused Lander of partaking in “passive divestment” by not reinvesting in Israel bonds when ones held expire.
“Lander is divesting from Israel for political reasons. He wants to be allied with his pro-Jihadi, anti-Israel contingent,” Wiesenfeld stated.
He additionally claimed Lander is violating his fiduciary duties as a result of Israel bonds submit constructive returns for traders.
By comparability, Weisenfeld known as DiNapoli a “special mensch” for standing up for Israel amid the battle with Hamas in Gaza.
“I and many Republicans admire Tom DiNapoli for his personal fairness and decency, attributes that make him unique in New York politics. He’s a special mensch,” Wiesenfeld stated of the Democrat.
DiNapoli, the only trustee of the state’s pension fund, has invested $363.9 million in State of Israel bonds. This contains $327.1 million of Improvement Corp. for Israel bonds and $36.8 million of Public State of Israel debt.
Earlier than Lander turned comptroller, the town pension funds have been invested in Israeli bonds as a part of the workplace’s international mounted portfolio throughout his predecessor Stringer’s eight years in workplace from 2014 to 2021, in keeping with a spokesperson for the latter.
Stringer is operating in opposition to Lander within the Democratic main for mayor. He declined to touch upon the Israel portfolio plummeting beneath Lander.
The votes of pro-Israel Jewish voters in addition to critics of the Jewish state might decide who wins the Democratic main for mayor.
Lander, by means of a spokesperson, declined to remark when requested whether or not he and reps on pension boards he serves on determined to not reinvest in Israel bonds after they matured.
However he burdened that he doesn’t assist the BDS motion to divest from Israel.
“Comptroller Lander does not support – and has never supported – boycott, divestment, or sanctions against Israel,” the spokesperson stated.
“The New York City pension funds do not invest directly in the bonds of any foreign countries, but they do invest in debt and equity positions in many Israeli-owned companies – just as they do in companies whose owners are Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, Chinese, Saudi Arabians, and many other nationalities.”
Lander first raised eyebrows over his stand on investing in Israeli bonds when he was requested about it throughout a discussion board hosted final month by the New York Progressive Motion Community.
“We don’t have any Israeli bonds because that’s just, that’s a category of investments that we don’t currently, that we don’t have,” he stated on the Feb. 5 mayoral discussion board, first reported by The Day by day Information.
