DiNapoli trip – New York’s ethics commission approved Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s reimbursement for a trip to Israel sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, but warned the arrangement could create an appearance of improper influence. The concerns land
When New York Comptroller Tom DiNapoli traveled to Israel, the trip carried a detail that now sits at the center of a widening ethical and political fight: it was paid for by a pro-Israel Jewish group that has a financial relationship with Israel Bonds.
A state oversight body approved reimbursement for the trip but said it could reasonably be seen as influence. In a February 2. 2024 letter. the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government approved the reimbursement from the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. while raising concerns that the sponsored arrangement could create “the proposed reimbursement could give reasonable basis for the impression that a person could improperly influence you. ” according to the letter obtained through a public records request.
The ethics commission’s letter shows that even as it permitted the reimbursement, at least several commissioners were worried about how the sponsorship might look to the public.
DiNapoli, who administers New York’s pension funds, is facing his first primary election contest in 18 years as comptroller. His support for Israel Bonds has become a defining talking point in the race, with challengers promising to divest if they win.
The trip itself was sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, and an itinerary for the trip indicated that DiNapoli was slated to meet with Israel Bonds staffers. The ethics commission approved the reimbursement but flagged the optics. The commission declined to comment.
The reimbursement was tied to the JCRC of New York’s relationship with Israel Bonds. In 2024. JCRC received financial backing from Israel Bonds. a fact organizers for Jewish Voice for Peace have pointed to as potentially suggesting improper influence. According to a spokesperson for the JCRC. the Israel Bonds donation was for a float in the 2024 Israel Day parade organized by the JCRC. and DiNapoli regularly attends the rally. including in 2024. On Sunday. DiNapoli and other state and local electeds marched in that parade. joined by Bezalel Smotrich. the current finance minister and a far-right champion of illegal settlements.
Jewish Voice for Peace has also accused DiNapoli of straying beyond his fiduciary role. In an October complaint to the ethics commission. Lisa Mulleneaux. a researcher with JVP’s “Break the Bonds” campaign. wrote that DiNapoli’s participation in a trip organized and paid for by an organization aligned with Israel Bonds—while promoting the office’s ongoing investments—amounted to a foreign policy role outside his statutory mandate.
Mulleneaux wrote that the arrangement represented a serious violation of DiNapoli’s ethical obligation under §74(3)(f) to avoid any impression that his official duties can be swayed by outside groups. At minimum. she said. it undermined public trust in the independence of the comptroller’s office and the integrity of the state’s investment decisions.
A spokesperson for DiNapoli pointed to the ethics commission’s ultimate approval of the JCRC reimbursement and said DiNapoli’s office was unaware of any ethics complaint filed in relation to the trip.
The ethics concerns arrive during renewed scrutiny of DiNapoli’s Israel Bonds spending. a financial instrument that directly funds the state of Israel. DiNapoli has backed investments of New York pension and investment funds in Israel Bonds. including a $20 million New York pension fund investment in Israel Bonds after the October 7 attacks.
Since the February 2024 trip, DiNapoli has invested $120 million of the state’s common retirement fund in Israel Bonds, bringing the total investment of state pension funds in Israel Bonds to $332.5 million. The scope and timing have helped turn the bonds into a central issue in the primary race.
Even as the ethics commission addressed the reimbursement, the debate over the bonds itself has deepened. During Israel’s genocide in Gaza. the movement to boycott. divest from. and sanction Israel gained steam. including campaigns urging divestment from Israeli bonds. DiNapoli’s approach has run in the opposite direction.
Jewish Voice for Peace organizer Dani Noble said the comptroller’s role is to safeguard pension funds through strategic investing that prioritizes the needs of public sector workers and retirees. Noble said DiNapoli was instead investing the NY pension in Israel Bonds—described by JVP as unrestricted loans to the Israeli military and government used for every aspect of violence against Palestinians.
DiNapoli’s political opponents have seized on that argument. In the primary. his support for Israel Bonds has become a talking point. with challengers Raj Goyle and Drew Warshaw both pledging to divest from investments in Israel if they take office. Both candidates’ positions align with former New York City comptroller and current House candidate Brad Lander. who chose not to buy new Israel Bonds while overseeing the city’s pension fund.
Becky Silber. a New York state employee and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace. said she was horrified when she learned in 2024 that her retirement funds were being used to fund Israel. She said she was “gutted. ” and that she was horrified watching the news coming out of Gaza—checking purchases in the grocery store to ensure her money wasn’t funding it. Silber said it was “devastating” to learn that hundreds of millions of dollars of the pension fund were being sent to Israel with no guardrails on how it was spent.
Critics have also argued that Israel Bonds may not be financially prudent. Unlike traditional foreign-debt assets. Israel Bonds cannot be sold on a secondary market and instead must be held until they mature. Kaycee Wimbish. a Kingston. New York. resident active with the Mid-Hudson Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. said the investments are hard to justify as financial prudence or effective diversification. Wimbish said comparable investments are less risky. more transparent. and more liquid. and called the disproportionate holdings evidence of a hidden political agenda.
Taken together. the ethics commission’s letter and the investment figures sharpen the stakes: the state has continued to tie DiNapoli’s Israel Bonds agenda to a personal travel arrangement backed by an organization with financial links to those same bonds—an overlap that. even after approval. has raised enough concern inside the ethics panel to be written down.
Tom DiNapoli New York Comptroller Israel Bonds ethics commission Jewish Community Relations Council JCRC Jewish Voice for Peace primary election New York pension funds Bezalel Smotrich Lisa Mulleneaux
So basically they paid him to go? Ethics panel acting shocked 🙄
I don’t get how an Israel trip sponsorship is “improper influence” when everyone’s getting sponsored for stuff all the time. Sounds like politics just fighting politics again.
Wait so the ethics commission ALREADY approved it but still said it could look bad? That feels like they’re just covering themselves. Also Israel Bonds?? Isn’t that like… investments, not lobbying.
This is what I hate about “appearances” rules. Like, if somebody goes on a trip and it’s sponsored by some Jewish group, now it’s automatically influence? Next they’ll say any campaign donation is influence too. But I also heard Israel Bonds are connected to Israel government stuff?? Idk, feels messy and biased either way.