A Freeze Is Not Enough: Time to Dump Israel Bonds

outside of the Cuyahoga County Administrative Headquarters | September 10, 2024 | Photo by the People's Press

Israel bonds remain a bad investment. Community organizers and activists spent the better part of a year filling up the chambers of Cuyahoga County Council to convince the council, and more specifically County Executive Chris Ronayne, that the county needs to stop investing in Israel bonds. Some pointed out the obvious moral argument — that we shouldn’t be invested in genocide and settler colonial occupation. Others raised the political arguments, pointing to upcoming elections and how alienating one’s own voter base is a disastrous decision strategically. However, the argument that needs revisiting at the current moment is the economic one.

Back during the push against the bonds, leading up to the freeze on 3 million dollars of Israel bonds, a point that kept getting raised was that major investor credit ratings kept downgrading Israel bonds. Not only did the scores diminish, but the agencies signaled a likelihood of even more severe downgrades. In September of last year, Moody’s warned that Israel bond’s rating could “drop to ‘junk’” if circumstances continued in that same direction. And since then, the same factors have only worsened.

inside of the Cuyahoga County Administrative Headquarters | December 3, 2024 | Photo by The People's Press

Late last year JP Morgan, reflecting on the effects of Israel’s regional aggression, “reduced its 2025 forecast…to 2.0% from its previous estimate of 3.2%.” Furthermore, because of the financial strain from “military operations,” JP Morgan also “raised its projection for Israel’s budget deficit to 6.2% from approximately 5.0%.” They additionally indicated an expectation that, as the genocide and military aggression continue, there will be additional “inflationary pressures.”

Since the freeze on Israel bonds, Israel’s violent aggressions have done nothing but grow. The genocide in Gaza has continued, and Israel has expanded the violence in the West Bank. Even more recently, with the help of the US empire, Israel has begun illegal attacks on Iran. At the time of writing this, Israel has been engaged in violence in Palestine, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. And on June 19th, The Times of Israel published a think piece titled “Qatar: Israel’s Next Real Enemy After Iran.” The violence and instability that helped force Cuyahoga County to freeze Israel bonds has only grown more intense, more unpredictable, and more unstable.

outside of the Cuyahoga County Administrative Headquarters | September 5, 2024 | Photo by The People's Press

Successful campaigns against companies complicit in the genocide are yet another sign that Israel bonds aren’t going to magically become “good” investments again for the county. Notably, the Palestinian Youth Movement waged a tireless campaign against Maersk called “Mask Off Maersk.” They targeted the company due to its integral role in the “global weapons supply chain.” The logistics company “transports weapons [components] from around the world to the US” so that companies like “Lockheed Martin and Raytheon” can assemble them. These weapons are then used by Israel to commit genocide in Gaza. In June 2025, the Palestinian Youth Movement succeeded in compelling Maersk cease its complicity. Maersk became the “first global shipping company to divest from companies in Israeli settlements.” Maersk claimed it was done purely out of a sense of concern over “threat risks” due to Israel’s war on Iran. However, the massive role played by the Palestinian Youth Movement’s year-long campaign should not be ignored nor understated.

If major corporations are feeling the pressure and divesting from Israel, financial institutions like JP Morgan and Moody’s are consistently devaluing investments in Israel, Israel’s thirst for conflict and bloodshed only grows, and organizations like Palestinian Youth Movement continue applying pressure, then clearly Israel bonds will never again be an investment even soulless politicians could justify. The world is moving past its support for the settler colonial project. When is Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne going to get the memo?

Chris Ronayne inside of the Cuyahoga County Administrative Headquarters | December 3, 2024 | Photo by The People's Press