New York City is Losing Out on ‘No Brainer’ Investment as Israel’s Economy Surges, Former Comptroller Warns

Former New York City comptroller Scott Stringer says the city should reconsider the decision to stop investing city pension funds in Israeli government bonds after a glowing new economic forecast on the Israeli economy.“These investments are long term investments,” Mr. Stringer said. “It’s really a no brainer,” he adds.The Bank of Israel expects the Jewish state’s economy to grow 5.6 percent this year and 7.5 percent next year when overseas production by multinational companies registered in Israel are included in forecasts. When the estimates are stripped down to domestic economic activity, the numbers are still a healthy 3.4 percent for 2026 and 5.1 percent for 2027.Israel’s debt-to-GDP ratio also remains significantly below the average of other market-based countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The Bank of Israel held a key interest rate steady at 3.25 percent.Mr. Stringer, who served as the city comptroller from 2014 to 2022, tells the Sun that the numbers argue his point that it is a mistake for New York City to stop investing in the Israeli government’s bonds.Mr. Stringer is concerned that an economic decision has been “weaponized” by the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement that he says is antisemitic. Mr. Stringer does, however, remain hopeful that the decision will be reconsidered. “I believe cooler heads will prevail and we’ll see a reinvestment in Israeli bonds,” he said.Comptroller Mark Levine, last week, said it wouldn’t be prudent to continue the investments due to uncertainty in Israel despite a campaign pledge to restart investments.“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,” Mr. Levine said in an X post.Mr. Levine tried to put some of the blame on his predecessor, Brad Lander, who divested the city’s pension in 2023. “At present, a number of challenges, including constraints related to a rules change on our short-term investment desk made by the previous comptroller, prevent us from making direct purchases,” Mr. Levine said.Moody’s previously projected growth accelerating to 5 percent next year with inflation only around 2 percent. The strong growth comes despite three years of war.MarketVector Indexes’s chief executive officer, Steven Schoenfeld, said in an X post that it was an “exceptionally-strong” growth forecast.Israel Bonds has touted its strength. In an emailed statement to the Sun, the corporation said the State of Israel has made every payment of principal and interest on its bonds, on time, since 1951, including every payment owed to New York City’s pension funds over nearly fifty years. “The Israeli economy behind Israel bonds remains strong,” an Israel Bonds spokesman, Nate Miller, said.Many local governments across America continue to invest in Israel Bonds. The New York State pension fund holds approximately $333 million in Israeli government bonds. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says he does not have any plans to change that investment policy.There are allegations that Mr. Levine, who is one of few pro-Israel Democratic officials in New York City, was pressured by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to avoid reinvesting in Israel Bonds. Mr. Mamdani has been highly critical of Israel and called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest on war crime charges.

New York City is Losing Out on ‘No Brainer’ Investment as Israel’s Economy Surges, Former Comptroller Warns

New York City is Losing Out on ‘No Brainer’ Investment as Israel’s Economy Surges, Former Comptroller Warns

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