“I welcome the comptroller’s decision,” Mamdani said Wednesday. “I don’t believe that our city should purchase Israel bonds.”
By United with Israel Staff
New York City Comptroller Mark Levine is facing fierce backlash after abandoning his pledge to reinvest the city’s pension funds in Israel Bonds, a move critics say hands a significant victory to the anti-Israel BDS movement as Mayor Zohran Mamdani reshapes City Hall’s approach to the Jewish state.
Mamdani, a longtime supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, welcomed Levine’s decision.
“I welcome the comptroller’s decision,” Mamdani said Wednesday. “I don’t believe that our city should purchase Israel bonds.”
The decision comes amid a broader shift in New York City’s approach to Israel under Mamdani.
On his first day in office, Mamdani revoked an executive order issued by former Mayor Eric Adams that barred city officials and agencies from participating in boycotts or divestment targeting Israel, along with a separate order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.
Mamdani has also repeatedly accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and has long opposed the city investing in Israel Bonds.
Levine, who is Jewish and has described himself as a supporter of Israel, insisted that politics played no role in his decision.
“I always said this would be based on financial considerations only, not politics — that’s still my position,” Levine told The New York Times.
“But as of now, we feel that because of some technical challenges, and because of financial considerations, that this is not an investment that we can make right now.”
The decision reverses a position Levine prominently took while campaigning for comptroller last year.
Levine had vowed to restore the city’s investment in Israel Bonds after his predecessor, Brad Lander, allowed the pension funds’ holdings to expire in 2023. At the time, Levine pointed to Israel’s record of repayment and argued that the bonds should be judged on their financial merits.
Former City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who increased the city’s Israel Bond holdings during his tenure, warned that the reversal could have consequences far beyond the pension system.
“They were a very sound investment,” Stringer told the New York Post.
“This inaction will further empower the BDS movement around the country. That is my worry. And it could continue to contribute to more antisemitism.”
Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism and a former Brooklyn assemblyman, accused Levine of bowing to pressure from the anti-Israel left.
“A perfect example of a coward: a sellout and a fraud trying to appease the dangerous lunatics on the left driving NY and the country off a cliff. Shame on you,” Hikind wrote on X.
CUNY professor Jeffrey Lax also blasted Levine, accusing him of effectively joining the BDS movement and predicting that the decision would face a legal challenge.
“BDS is illegal, your pretense is a scam, and your morality is bankrupt. Congratulations on being only the most recent antisemitic Jew to join the BDS movement and divest NYC pension funds from Israel. PREDICTION: lawsuit incoming,” Lax wrote on X.
Lax also urged members of several city pension systems to consider legal action and offered to help connect potential plaintiffs with attorneys.
PLEASE SHARE
NYC Employees!
Comptroller @MarkLevineNYC has illegally implemented BDS to divest your longstanding rock solid retirement investments in Israel Bonds.
If your pension is listed below, you can sue:
–NYC Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS)
–Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS)
–Police Pension Fund
–Fire Pension Fund
–Board of Education Retirement SystemMy 501C3 organization @_SAFECAMPUS can help you find a lawyer.
Visit https://t.co/tlv6OTkgqt or just DM me and I’ll help you find counsel.
@NJACLaw @brandeiscenter @ZOA_National @LawfareProject
https://t.co/wZcIP0YniH— Prof. Jeffrey Lax (@CUNY_Prof) October 15, 2026
Levine’s reversal marks another significant shift in New York City’s relationship with Israel under Mamdani, while giving BDS supporters a victory they had sought for years and setting the stage for a potential legal battle over the city’s pension funds.