Protesters demand Michigan retirement fund divest from Israel bond
Lansing — Michigan residents protesting the state's continued investment of retirement funds in Israel spoke for more than an hour Wednesday to the board overseeing the state's $110 billion retiree investment fund, begging them to divest from a $10 million Israel bond.
The bond, purchased in November 2023, is the only Israel investment in the state's $110 billion retirement investment portfolio, but has prompted pleas for change at the past several State of Michigan Investment Board meetings.
"I am appalled and sickened that my retirement monies are being used to fund the state of Israel, which is bombing children in their homes, schools and hospital beds," said Carol Brundelre, a retired Michigan teacher for the visually impaired. "... This is not an acceptable use of teachers' retirement funds."
Brundelre was one of nearly two dozen people rallied by the group Michigan Divest who spoke out against the State of Michigan Retirement System's $10 million Israel bond; the group has been calling for divestment from the bond since October. Many of those who spoke Wednesday were former state of Michigan employees protesting the use of their retirement funds for the Israel bond.
The group argued in a statement Wednesday that funds raised by the sale of Israeli bonds are added to Israel's general budget, "which is used for various political purposes, including financing settlement and annexation policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories."
Many of those speaking Wednesday drew parallels between the state's inaction on the Israel investment and its swift decision in 2022 to divest from Russian investments after the country's invasion of Ukraine. The board acted in March 2022 within a week of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requesting the divestment. The decision cut off investments to about 0.06% of the state's retirement portfolio that was tied to Russia, largely international index funds managed by outside firms.
State Treasurer Rachel Eubanks said Wednesday that the retirement board appreciated the comments and stressed that the input was important to the board's work. But she also noted the Israel bond was a different type of investment than the Russian-tied divestment of 2022.
"There's a lot of factors when it comes to what is an investment that we can divest from or not," Eubanks said. "Bonds are unique in that they often will have call protections and redemption provisions that make them a little bit of a different animal to work with. ...It's often not as straightforward."
Eubanks, an appointee of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, did not answer directly when asked whether the state would reinvest in Israel bonds when the $10 million bond matures in November.
In a statement after the meeting, the treasury department said the investment board is always evaluating its investments and seeking to full its mandate of ensuring investment returns create "a meaningful and comfortable retirement for our teachers, state employees, state police officers and judges."
Several commenters Wednesday acknowledged that it may be difficult to immediately divest from the bond before it matured, but asked for assurances that the $10 million Israel bond would be the last.
"If it cannot be sold, then the ask is that we get a statement of commitment that no further Israeli government bonds be purchased until this government changes its direction," said Jack Smith, a retired Michigan State University College of Education faculty member.
The pressure on the state investment board comes as other pro-Palestine groups have demanded similar concessions from state and university government bodies that have also invested in Israel. The effort has met with little success.
In Illinois last month, the state treasurer announced another $10 million investment in Israel bonds, bringing the state's total investment in Israel bonds to $100 million.
And at the University of Michigan, where pro-Palestine activists have pressured the university to cut ties with Israel amid the war in Gaza, the Board of Regents have repeatedly rejected calls to divest any money from its $17.9 billion endowment in Israeli companies.
UM President Santa Ono said last month the Ann Arbor school instead invested more money in Israel.
"My response, and the board's response, to this whole to divest, or cut those relationships, was to actually invest even more," Ono said at an Anti-Defamation League forum on antisemitism. "The three of us have put more money into it, and great things have come out of these relationships and more things will come in the future."
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Protesters demand Michigan retirement fund divest from Israel bond
