Thomas DiNapoli
D · State Comptroller, New York · Tier 1
Tier 1, “Firmly pro-Israel”
Incumbent Comptroller; turned the NY state pension into one of the nation’s largest public holders of Israel Bonds — about $332.5M as of June 2026, per The Intercept (the Break the Bonds coalition, which hosted his two divestment challengers at a June forum, put the holdings at $367.5M as of March 31, 2025). Bought $20M after Oct 7, 2023 (bringing holdings then to ~$267.8M) and more after a Feb 2024 JCRC-sponsored Israel trip that drew an ethics flag from a state oversight board. He regularly marches in the Israel Day Parade, most recently in May 2026. He refuses to divest from Israel bonds, and in 2021 he announced the pension fund would divest its $111 million in Unilever shares after Ben & Jerry’s decided to stop selling in the West Bank, saying the companies had “engaged in BDS activities under our pension fund’s policy.” After New York City’s comptroller said on October 14, 2026 that he would not reinvest city pension money in Israel bonds, DiNapoli’s office said the bonds “continue to be a part of our fixed income portfolio” (JTA, Oct 15), and his spokesman told the New York Post: “We continue to look for investment opportunities in Israel and globally that will benefit the Fund” (Oct 18).
A clean, clear-cut Tier 1 — an unusual form of leadership, but a decisive one. As sole trustee of the state pension fund he has unilateral authority over its Israel Bond purchases, and he has made it one of the largest public holders of Israel Bonds in the country, buying $20M immediately after October 7 and, by The Intercept’s count, a further $120 million since the February 2024 trip — direct loans to the Israeli treasury, accelerating during the war. He defends the holdings on fiduciary grounds, refuses to divest from Israel bonds, and in 2021 had the fund drop its Unilever shares after Ben & Jerry’s decided to stop selling in the West Bank, under the fund’s 2016 policy on companies engaged in BDS. This isn’t merely receiving pro-Israel money, which would be reliable support; it is proactively directing hundreds of millions in public funds into direct financing of the Israeli government, and the only concern for Palestinian civilians found on his record is a December 2023 joint statement on the October 7 sexual violence, signed with scores of New York officials, that mourned “the deaths of so many Palestinian and Israeli civilians” — leadership on the issue, not just support for it. Snubbed by the WFP in the June primary, he won his first contested primary in 18 years against two divestment challengers; the WFP has since endorsed him for November.
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elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).