Municipal officials join Israel Bonds’ new financial leadership board

Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity, Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ and Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller Joseph Abruzzo have joined Israel Bonds’ new Government, Industry and Financial Services Leadership Board.

Israel Bonds debuted the board, which was established by its national sales vice President Stuart Garawitz working with its Palm Beach Advisory Council’s chair Norm Taplin and executive director Mark Ruben, on Thursday.

The board aims to grow the organization’s governmental relationships throughout the United States and help develop relationships with corporate and institutional investors.

Dani Naveh, president & CEO of Israel Bonds, highlighted the importance of investing in Israel bonds, especially at this time, noting that it is not only a strong investment, but is also an expression of support for the United States’ ally, the state of Israel.

Sprague, the board’s first chair, extended a general invitation for everyone to be a part of this committee following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas.

“We can’t stay neutral. It is very clear to me that if we stay neutral, we are going to benefit Hamas. It benefits the aggressor, the attacker,” Sprague said. “And I think that is what they want — for everyone to stand on the sidelines and do nothing.”

Speaking on Illinois’ investment in Israel bonds, Frerichs said the “United States has a special relationship with the only democracy in the Middle East and this is affirming that relationship.”

He added, “soon after Oct. 7, my staff and I were sitting around asking what we could do. We reached out to our friends at Israel Bonds. We initially invested $10 million and then another $20 million.”

Garrity said Pennsylvania would always stand with Israel.

“If Hamas stopped fighting today, there would be no more war. If Israel stops fighting, there will be no more Israel,” she said.

The Development Corporation for Israel, also known as Israel Bonds, and its affiliates around the world have raised more than $50 billion in investments since it was founded in 1951.

Since Oct. 7, Israel Bonds has secured more than $1 billion in bond investments from U.S. investors and doubled its annual global bond sales for 2023 to over $2 billion.
 
More than 15 U.S. state and municipal governments and institutions have invested in Israel bonds since the war broke out.

The new investments have come from the states of Florida, New York, Alabama, Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Nevada, Louisiana, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Indiana as well as Florida’s Broward County, Franklin County, Palm Beach County, Miami Beach, KeyBank and Cross River Bank.