General Discussion

“Members of Congress set U.S. foreign policy so they have a real role to play here. It’s American taxpayer dollars that are paying for the 2,000-pound bombs that Netayahu is dropping on civilians in Gaza.” But that line of attack is a fraught path for Lander for several reasons — including the fact that the city’s public pension funds have under his watch as comptroller increased investment in Elbit Systems, the largest supplier of weapons to the Israel Defense Forces, records reviewed by The News show. As recently as this past March, in fact, Lander touted that investment to an Orthodox Jewish radio host.

During his unsuccesful mayoral campaign, Lander told a progressive group in early 2025 the pension funds weren’t invested in “any” Israeli government bonds after being asked how he could as comptroller put pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza. The funds at the time actually held more than $1 million in Israel bonds. Still, following Lander’s claim, the group, New York Progressive Action Network, endorsed Lander’s mayoral run.

Speaking around the same time to Zev Brenner, an Orthodox Jewish radio host, Lander struck a different note as he affirmed he remains opposed to the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement that calls for pulling money out of Israel over its government’s treatment of Palestinians. In that appearance, he specifically touted the Elbit investments.

“The New York City pension funds are proudly invested in many Israeli-owned companies, tech companies like Nice Ltd, Elbit Systems, Mobileye, Teva Pharmaceutical … and no, of course, we’re not going to divest from them,” he said.