You’re right: North Carolina sold all $6.7 million of Israeli government bonds held in the state pension fund. But that’s not all.

The correct answer was D: All of the above. Our movement notched wins in all three states: North Carolina, Michigan, and Minnesota.

North Carolina

The Break the Bonds NC coalition recently announced that the state of North Carolina has sold all $6.7 million of Israeli government bonds held in the state pension fund. This win came out of a powerful campaign supported by over 40 organizations, including unions and faith groups.

Michigan

After a year-long campaign, Michigan Divest announced in late November that the state Department of Treasury has dropped all state pension investments in Israel Bonds, totaling $10 million.

Minnesota

In Minnesota, records requests revealed that the State Board of Investment had been quietly divesting from Israel Bonds — selling over $13 million in these investments. Organizers explained that this is the first step in a fight to divest all of Minnesota’s investments in the Israeli government and other companies that uphold the oppression of Palestinians.

Where do we go from here?

These wins prove that our communities don’t want their tax dollars and retirement funds paying for Israeli apartheid and genocide. And they demonstrate that, increasingly, treasurers, comptrollers, and financial advisors agree with us that the Israeli government is a bad financial investment for our communities.

These victories create momentum — proving that divestment is a winnable goal, and providing crucial lessons in strategy as we scale up our fight even further. Recent wins could pave the way for bigger divestment victories, such as the ongoing fights in New York State, Ohio, and Miami-Dade County, where Israel Bonds holdings all total in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Right now, there are more than 10 active campaigns for Israel bonds divestment across the U.S., involving JVP chapters as well as many of our Palestinian-led partner organizations. These campaigns include No New Bonds Ohio, Break the Bonds Pennsylvania, New York City, and many others.

It’s no coincidence that the genocidal Israeli government and its allies in the U.S. have fought our divestment efforts tooth and nail for decades. They’re fighting us this hard because divestment works. It cuts off critical financial support for the Israeli state, and it sends a powerful message that impunity for Israel’s crimes is coming to an end.