Divestment activists claim win as Minnesota board sheds most Israel bonds

Boycott, Divest and Sanction advocates claim victory with the Minnesota State Board of Investment.

The groups MN BDS Community and the Anti-War Committee announced that information they've obtained from a data practices request to the board revealed it has divested 96 percent of its Israel bonds.

Israel holdings were valued at $13.3 million in December 2020, said Karen Schraufnagel, a retired stock analyst and founding member of MN BDS Community. She filed the request earlier this year.

As of Oct. 16, the SBI has one $470,000 bond, Schraufnagel said. The bonds sold came at a loss of $800,000 and the SBI has argued that fiduciary responsibility required it to make and hold these investments, she added.

“This claim was made repeatedly by both SBI board members and staff,” Schraufnagel said.

“The revelation of substantial and repeated losses seems to indicate that neither purchasing nor holding these bonds was ever about fiduciary responsibility.”

In a statement, the SBI said it has “not changed its investment policy regarding permitted investments.” The board hires third party investment managers and said that holdings are not static.

A group of activists who have pressured the Minnesota State Board of Investment to divest from Israel for more than a decade are claiming a win in that battle.

Sana Wazwaz was a member of the Palestinian families delegation, which was supposed to meet with Gov. Tim Walz last year. Walz chairs the SBI. 

Wazwaz said Walz canceled the meeting.

“But here we are a year later, Governor Walz, this is my message to you, stop hiding. Just admit you messed up. We call on you to publicly condemn Israel’s genocide,” Wazwaz said. “Stop with this quiet, coy divestment. Say it.”

Bob Goonin, also with the MN BDS Community, said because Minnesota has held these Israel bonds in its portfolio, it is complicit along with the state board.

“The state of Minnesota is complicit in Israel’s genocide and apartheid and occupation,” he said. 

Next up for the groups, Goonin said, will be to develop a strategy for another campaign. They want the SBI to divest from companies that manufacture weapons and high-tech that is used by the Israeli military. 

The board has $5.6 billion in stocks “in these companies that profit from genocide and apartheid,” he said. “We need to now get the divestment win that we’ve had with the Israel bonds. We need to take that forward into these other stocks and holdings.”