New Jersey’s Break the Bonds campaign adds pressure on states to divest from Israel

This article New Jersey’s Break the Bonds campaign adds pressure on states to divest from Israel was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

On July 13, roughly 100 people convened in Military Park in Newark, New Jersey for the launch of Break the Bonds, a new statewide campaign in solidarity with Palestine. Inspired by the BDS Movement — a call from Palestinian civil society organizations to boycott and divest from Israel’s economy — the activists in New Jersey vowed to get their state to divest from Israel Bonds. These bonds, as organizers explained, are direct loans that individuals and institutions make to the Israeli treasury, enabling its ongoing genocide in Gaza and broader oppression of Palestinians.

The initiative in New Jersey is the latest local expression of a national campaign that launched on May 23, 2024. Since that national launch, coalitions have formed across the country to pressure various state and local institutions to divest from Israel Bonds. Jewish Voice for Peace, or JVP, one of the national organizations behind the Break the Bonds campaign, has published dispatches from iterations of the campaign in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Providence. There have also been efforts in North Carolina, New York, Florida, and Illinois. All are targeting public institutions that buy Israel Bonds, including state treasuries and pension funds.

Speaking at the campaign launch rally, Wassim Kanaan, the chair of New Jersey’s chapter of American Muslims for Palestine, or AMP-NJ, denounced the complicity of U.S. institutions in the unfolding genocide. “Whether it be the healthcare industry, the academia industry, the very important economic industry … these sectors are not free of blame when we talk about Zionist atrocities and crimes.”

The coalition of organizations at the launch included local chapters of national organizations: AMP-NJ, the Council on American-Islamic Relations NJ, and JVP of Northern New Jersey and Central New Jersey. Several state-specific organizations were also present, including Ceasefire Now NJ, New Jersey Peace Action and Palestinian American Community Center.

JVP member Eric Romann described the coalition as united by each organization’s ongoing efforts to challenge U.S. support for Israel. That work also includes challenging support coming from New Jersey’s public institutions and officials “in the context of this ongoing genocide and long history of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.”

A recent Open Public Records Request filed by JVP shows that the New Jersey Division of Investment holds over $30 million in Israel Bonds. Correspondingly, the organizers are demanding that the state commit to not renewing or expanding those investments. At the same time, the coalition has several long-term goals for its campaign.

“We broadly would like to see, in the long term, the state of New Jersey adopt an investment policy that is consistent with principles of human rights, economic and racial justice, and environmental sustainability,” Romann said. “We would love to partner with other social movements and organizations in the state of New Jersey that would like to see an investment policy that reflects those principles.”

Understanding Israel Bonds

Because Israel Bonds are not well known among the general public, much of the initial work of the campaign has consisted of organizers explaining the purpose of these bonds and how they prop up Israel’s economy.

Its story began in 1951, when Israel’s then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion created the Development Corporation for Israel — the economic institution behind Israel Bonds. Since its inception, the Development Corporation has raised more than $40 billion for Israel’s economy. According to a Bloomberg report, U.S. investment in Israel Bonds has yielded $5 billion since the Oct. 7 attacks alone. This number is notably double the typical amount Israel was raising through Israel Bonds prior to the war. In a quote from the Bloomberg report, Israel Bonds President and Chief Executive Officer Dani Naveh claims that the largest share of U.S. investments in the bonds comes from state, city and local governments.

While the specific amounts of investment vary from state to state, organizers of the Break the Bonds campaign see the emphasis on Israel Bonds as a way to expose the complicity of U.S. institutions in Israel’s anti-Palestinian violence.

The campaign also raises the question of how taxpayer money gets spent compared to what might better benefit localities and states. Speaking at the launch rally in Newark, longtime community activist Larry Hamm said, “Instead of spending that money on war, they need to spend it at home on healthcare, on education, on jobs, on the needs of the people. That’s what we’ve got to build.”

Growing a grassroots campaign

While the campaign has not secured any divestments so far, activists have made important advances in exposing the role of Israel Bonds — and how much different cities and states contribute to these investments. As a result, several cities across the country have introduced divestment resolutions.

Last year, shortly after the launch of the national campaign — and following months of protests in the streets, at universities and outside of banks — the Cuyahoga County Council introduced a resolution to halt investment in Israel Bonds. Two days later, in Rhode Island, the Providence City Council introduced a similar resolution. More recently, in Illinois, union members filed an ethics complaint against the Illinois state treasurer over the state’s $100 million investment in Israel Bonds. This coincided with an Illinois state senator introducing legislation to halt investment in Israel Bonds.

Other states have used various tactics to challenge investment. Activists in Philadelphia got the word out about their Break the Bonds campaign with protests, including one in which rabbis and allies blocked traffic to call for divestment. In Palm Beach, residents sued the county in May 2024 over its $700 million investment in Israel Bonds.

Back at the launch of New Jersey’s campaign, speakers acknowledged that their effort will likely be a long fight. At the same time, however, they also believe educating the broader community — and building a large and diverse coalition — is the best way to challenge these investments.

“The counterbalance to industries in cahoots are people in a movement who are in solidarity,” Kanaan said.

This article New Jersey’s Break the Bonds campaign adds pressure on states to divest from Israel was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

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Source: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/07/new-jerseys-break-the-bonds-campaign-adds-pressure-on-states-to-divest-from-israel/