Last week’s midterm elections brought renewed momentum to the nationwide campaign to divest from Israeli bonds. While voters in Providence, Rhode Island, approved a historic divestment measure, those in Palm Beach County, Florida—the world’s largest investor in Israeli bonds—voted against reinvesting $67.5 million in said bonds. These decisions mark two major victories for the growing national movement demanding that public institutions withdraw investments linked to human rights violations in Gaza.
In Providence, more than 76% of voters supported Question 7, a ballot initiative requiring the city to divest municipal funds from foreign countries and entities involved in genocide. The vote makes Providence the first U.S. city to adopt a binding divestment law through a popular vote, according to Providence for Palestine, the group behind the ballot measure. The measure also positions Providence to become the largest U.S. city to divest from Israel.
Providence for Palestine brought together a coalition of local organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace RI, the Rhode Island chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Reclaim RI, and unionized graduate students at Brown University. After collecting more than 10,000 signatures, organizers secured a place for the measure on the ballot, setting yet another precedent for the first time a citizen-initiated referendum has appeared on a Providence ballot.
Meanwhile, in Florida, the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners voted not to reinvest $67.5 million in Israel bonds, marking another significant development for the Internationalist Law Center’s “Our Taxes, Our Needs” campaign. Now, the organization is calling for the county to divest its remaining holdings in Israel bonds. Palm Beach County has invested approximately $1 billion in the bonds using taxpayer funds.
“These divestment wins across the country signal that Israel bonds, and genocide, are in fact poor investments that harm taxpayers,” said Lydia Ghuman, executive director of the Internationalist Law Center.
The Palm Beach County decision follows months of organizing and controversy over residents’ efforts to challenge the county’s investments. Tensions escalated during a Sept. 15 county budget hearing when residents attempted to speak against the investments. County officials prevented residents from addressing the investments during public comment, and sheriff’s deputies removed multiple attendees from the chamber.
The confrontation culminated in the arrest of human rights attorney Noura Erakat, who refused to leave the meeting. Authorities charged her with misdemeanor trespassing. Erakat was subsequently released on bond.
The Internationalist Law Center has also filed a lawsuit challenging the county’s investments, arguing that they raise concerns about fiduciary responsibilities and potential conflicts of interest. Last February, Norman Taplin, who serves on the National Cabinet of Israel Bonds and previously chaired the Palm Beach County Community State of Israel Bonds, joined the Investment Policy Committee, an advisory body that works with the county comptroller to develop, review, and evaluate the county’s investment policies and practices. The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners waived its conflict-of-interest rules to approve his appointment.
Ghuman said the divestment moves show a growing grassroots movement demanding that elected officials align public spending with community priorities and invest money in local communities, not violence abroad.
“The majority of people do not want to be complicit in genocide,” Ghuman said. “We have shown that when our elected officials do not listen to us, we will demand more: through public comment, through ballot initiatives, through electing new officials, and through organized people-power centered in humanity and with Palestine as our compass.”
National divestment efforts have expanded in recent years, with the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights documenting municipal and state-level divestment actions across several states. A February report identified at least 14 campaigns targeting Israeli bonds, while Jewish Voice for Peace reported more than 10 active campaigns nationwide in December 2025.
Several other municipalities in New England have also moved to divest from Israel. In Massachusetts, the Cambridge City Council voted on Oct. 28 to divest over $20 million in municipal funds from investments organizers associated with apartheid and genocide. In neighboring Somerville, the City Council is scheduled to vote on a binding boycott and divestment ordinance on Nov. 12. The proposed action follows a local ballot question last November in which residents overwhelmingly supported divestment. On Oct. 22, the Easthampton City Council also unanimously approved a resolution calling for divestment from four companies identified as supporting Israel’s military actions in Gaza. In Maine, the City Councils of Portland and Belfast both voted in 2024 to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
According to polling reported by The Washington Post, two-thirds of Americans oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza, more than half support stopping U.S. weapons transfers to Israel, and 61% of American Jews oppose the Israeli government’s conduct of the war. Even a recent poll of Jewish American voters in the U.S. by the pro-Israel lobby group J Street found that 65% support at least some conditions on U.S. weapons sales to Israel.
Editorial Team:
Sahar Fatima, Lead Editor
Carolyn Copeland, Top Editor
Rikki Li, Copy Editor