Israel Bonds Should Be Broken

BREAK THE BONDS

The US government is the notorious #1 financier of Israel’s crimes, followed by a more dubious network of individuals and institutions who have directly transferred at least $8 billion in Israel bonds to the Israeli government in the first six months of its genocide on Gaza.¹

The “Break The Bonds” campaign aims to equip people of conscience with the information and tools necessary to divest from genocide. Find out if you or an institution that represents you is invested in Israel bonds, why, and how to materially improve Palestinian life by divesting from Palestinian death. We are not helpless.

What Are Israel Bonds?

Israel Bonds are unrestricted loans directly to the Israeli government, including the military, to use however it wishes. When a city, county, state, or institution purchases Israel Bonds, they are lending money to the Israeli government, which then repays the bondholder with interest over time.²

For example, you might be unwittingly funding the Israeli military through your pension. U.S. investments in Israel Bonds have funded decades of occupation, military aggression, land theft, and genocide against Palestinians.

Dani Naveh, President and CEO of the Development Corporation of Israel Bonds, says the buyers of bonds are helping raise the funds needed for the “war” effort. Israel Bonds are essentially war bonds to fund genocide.³

Israel Bonds Uphold The Genocide State

Israel bonds are a crucial pillar of Israel’s collapsing economy. In their own words, it’s “inconceivable” for Israel to withstand an 18-month security and economic crisis without Israel bonds.⁴ Disturbingly, sales of Israel bonds typically peak during Zionist military campaigns against Palestinians. Between October 2023 and March 2024, people and institutions sent $8 billion in material support to Israel via Israel bonds.⁵

These financial instruments effectively uphold a system of genocide and apartheid, and its our responsibility to disrupt it. Breaking ties with Israel Bonds is a tangible, crucial act of solidarity with Palestinians, and it starts with a little research.

How Your Community Might Be Invested in Israel Bonds

Many cities, counties, universities, and pension funds unknowingly hold Israel Bonds as part of their investment portfolios. The Break the Bonds campaign has identified the following divestment targets based on their winnability and impact:

Library of BDS Wins

How To Break The Bonds

Israel bonds themselves typically cannot be cancelled, since they function as a loan. The maturity date of Israel bonds is the date the investor is paid back their loan with interest from the Israeli government.

So the divestment strategy for Israel bonds is focused on ending the cycle of investment by demanding the adoption of an ethical investment policy.

1.Discover The Bonds

You can take several steps to uncover whether an entity holds Israel Bonds:

  • While someone has yet to make an active, publicly accessible database of Israel Bonds, Little Sis did compile a February 2024 list of top Israel Bond investors after October 7.

  • Some municipalities post investment holdings online. Look for investment reports or disclosures.

    You can scan your entity’s website in any search engine by typing the following into the search bar:
    “israel” or “foreign securities” site:[paste URL]

  • Check annual financial statements, investment reports, or pension fund disclosures for mentions of "Israel Bonds," "State of Israel Bonds," or "Development Corporation for Israel." These may be PDFs that are blocked from search engine crawls.

  • Attend public meetings where financial investments are discussed and ask directly about Israel Bonds.

  • Many cities, counties, and states disclose their investments. Submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request (or equivalent) to obtain financial reports.

If you can’t find any information, and the people with the information refuse to disclose, you’re in good company. Administrative refusal to disclose and divest is why students have escalated to solidarity encampments and even hunger strikes on many college campuses. Such pressure campaigns have exposed complicit institutions and helped achieve divestment.

Watch this Break the Bonds webinar to learn more about organizing an Israel bonds campaign.

2. Launch A Divestment Campaign

If you can’t plug in to an existing local campaign, start one yourself. Whether you’re pressuring your city council to adopt an ethical investment policy, or your university, these strategies work. Activists have used these strategies in successful campaigns to get their community to divest.

  • Many successful campaigns never need to be launched because conversations alone achieved the win. Our responsibility to Palestinians is to win by pulling people into the movement. To be with Palestine is to be with humanity. Bring your humanity and make room for the humanity of whoever you’re speaking with. Spread the courage to advocate against the death machine.

  • Partner with local organizations, labor unions, faith communities, and student organizations.

  • Organize petitions, protests, and public comment sessions at city council or pension board meetings.

  • Engage city officials, treasurers, or pension fund managers with clear research on Israel Bonds and ethical alternatives.

  • Write op-eds, launch social media campaigns, and hold press conferences.

  • Work with sympathetic council members to propose a divestment resolution.

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT: BREAK THE BONDS SOUTH FLORIDA ~

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT: BREAK THE BONDS SOUTH FLORIDA ~

Break the Bonds South Florida is seeking to set a precedent for other counties to take pause before investing in Israel Bonds and for impacted counties to reclaim matured Israel Bond funds to invest back into the community.

  • Strategy: Organizers sued the comptroller of Palm Beach County, who invested $700 million of taxpayer property taxes into Israel Bonds, at a time when the county had a $732 million shortfall that resulted in the cancellation of local infrastructure projects.

  • Goal: When the loan matures and the funds return to Palm Beach County coffers with interest, those funds should be placed into a public trust for constituents to vote on how they want to spend these funds.

Additional FAQs About Israel Bonds

  • No, Israel Bonds are not a good investment. Since Israel unleashed its genocidal campaign on Gaza in Oct. 2023, Moody’s has dropped its investment ranking by several tiers, citing intensified “geopolitical risk.” Ethical investing should prioritize human rights. There are plenty of secure investment alternatives that do not support occupation or military expansion.

  • Many municipalities have socially responsible investment (SRI) policies that allow for divestment from companies or bonds tied to human rights violations, environmental harm, or other unethical practices. Successful divestment campaigns require research into what existing values or laws justify divestment.

  • If you’re unfamiliar with the investing world, you should know that the dominating culture is to divorce the reality of investments from the profit to be gained. Institutions and cities tend to invest in these bonds because Israel guarantees repayment with interest, and/or because of a shared ideological commitment to the ethnostate.⁶ But now the status quo has shifted, thanks to Palestinians and allies who take the time to engage with institutions on this issue.

  • Divestment campaigns focus on Israel Bonds because:

    • They directly fund the Israeli government, including its military and settlement expansion across historic Palestine. 

    • Many cities, counties, universities, and pension funds unknowingly hold Israel Bonds as part of their portfolios.

    • Divesting from Israel Bonds is a concrete action that municipalities and institutions can take to stop financial complicity in human rights violations.

  • Divesting sends a strong political message and weakens Israel’s access to American capital. After divestment:

    • It sets a precedent for other cities and institutions to follow.

    • It shifts public discourse on financial complicity in apartheid.

    • It forces decision-makers to reconsider their investment policies and adopt more ethical standards.

    • Research your local government’s investment portfolio.

    • Join or form a local campaign with organizations focused on Palestine solidarity and divestment.

    • Attend city council or pension board meetings to push for transparency and divestment.

    • Educate your community through teach-ins, workshops, and media outreach.

    • Push for broader policies that prevent future unethical investments.

Thank you to the Internationalist Law Center and South Florida Break the Bonds Campaign for their contributions to the information and FAQs on this page.