NYC Comptroller Defends Israel Ties While Declining to Resume Bond Purchases
Mark Levine defended New York City’s economic relationship with Israel on 15 October after reversing a campaign pledge to resume Israel bond purchases. The decision was not a newly documented sale of existing holdings.
The last direct position at issue, worth roughly $40 million, had been allowed to mature in early 2023 under Levine's predecessor, Brad Lander, The Times of Israel reported. Levine's announcement concerned whether purchases would restart. Other Israeli securities remain a separate part of the city's investments.
What Levine changed
Levine, New York City's comptroller, said technical and financial considerations prevented a resumption of purchases for now. The policy reversal was reported on 14 October. In remarks carried by The Times of Israel the following day, he emphasized the importance of the city's relationship with Israel and rejected describing his decision as BDS.
BDS stands for boycott, divestment and sanctions, a campaign targeting Israel. Levine's financial explanation is his stated rationale; it is not an independently established account of every factor in the decision. His office is the municipal comptroller, distinct from New York State's comptroller.
Direct bonds are not all Israeli investments
Israel bonds are debt obligations of the State of Israel, distributed in the United States through Development Corporation for Israel. They are not shares in Israeli companies. When a bond matures, its scheduled repayment differs from an investor selling it before maturity.
The comptroller's office told the New York Post that Israeli public equity and public fixed income exposure totaled $285.42 million. That amount should not be relabeled as direct Israel bond holdings or money newly withdrawn from Israel. It describes different securities from the historical position discussed in the purchase debate.
Israel News Pulse could not independently reconcile that figure to individual fund disclosures with a common valuation date and account scope. It therefore does not calculate an Israeli investment share of the entire pension portfolio or treat directly managed assets as synonymous with all pension assets.
The mayor welcomes the decision
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who opposed restarting purchases, welcomed Levine's announcement. He argued that the city should not make an exception for Israel when it does not buy other countries' sovereign bonds. That was the mayor's stated policy position.
Israel Bonds disputed the negative signal from the decision. Spokesperson Nate Miller told The Times of Israel that Israel had made every principal and interest payment since 1951, including those owed to the city's pension funds, and said the organization wanted further discussions with Levine's team.
The responses point in different directions: Mamdani welcomed the purchasing policy, while Israel Bonds defended the issuer's repayment record. Neither response changes which transaction was actually announced.
What the financial debate needs next
The distributor's own guidance says the Israel bonds it distributes are not themselves rated by credit rating agencies; Israel's sovereign credit ratings are a separate assessment. A rating headline should therefore not be substituted for the terms of a particular bond.
Assessing the investment case would require matching maturities, liquidity, risk and comparable alternatives. Comparing a bond's interest rate with one year's return on an entire mixed pension portfolio does not supply that assessment. The confirmed change is narrower: Levine is not restarting the purchases he had promised, while the office says other Israeli investments remain.
