​DID YOU KNOW?

Petition to Divest Indiana and its Public Retirement System from Israel Bonds:

Treasurer Elliott, Members of the Indiana Public Retirement System Board of Trustees:

We write as Indiana residents urging you to stop buying and renewing Israel bonds. You are loaning over $100,000,000 of our tax dollars to the Israeli government, funding its atrocities against Palestinian people and propping up its collapsing economy. From North Carolina to Minnesota, other state officials are making the sound economic decision to drop these risky investments. We ask you to uphold your fiduciary duty and listen to voters and stakeholders: divest from Israel bonds and invest in our communities instead.

We are among the 81% of Americans (including 72% of Republicans) who are concerned that the Israeli military is killing Palestinian civilians. We are taxpayers and state pension members, horrified to see our money go directly to the Israeli government’s general fund when its Finance Minister says it may be “just and moral” to “starve two million people,” half of them children. 

Indeed, the Israeli military’s blockade has starved Gaza for months, causing hundreds of deaths in addition to the tens of thousands killed by Israeli bombings. As of December 2025, newborn deaths have soared 75% because the Israeli military violates the ceasefire by blocking entry of food and supplies. It is urgent that you help end our state’s complicity in genocide by divesting from Israel bonds.

While no amount of financial gain could justify funding these atrocities, we believe Israel bonds are also a poor financial investment. Since October 2023, all three major credit rating agencies have downgraded Israel bonds, placing them dangerously close to ‘junk bond’ status. Israel’s credit outlook is negative; 130 top Israeli economists warn of a crisis due to ballooning debt, shrinking labor force, high taxes, business bankruptcies, and tourism collapse. 

Yet over the past two years our state’s investment in Israel bonds increased from $65 million to $120 million, while the Indiana Public Retirement System’s (INPRS) investment in Israel bonds increased from $3.2 million to $20.1 million. Treasurer Elliott promised to ground his financial decisions in “sound economics” to “ensure that public funds serve the people—not corporate agendas or political ideologies.” INPRS policy prohibits non-financial considerations and investments made to influence social policy. Your increased and continued investment in Israel bonds run counter to these commitments. 

In fact, Treasurer Elliott and fellow INPRS Board of Trustees Member Comptroller Nieshalla belong to the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), an ideologically-motivated organization akin to ALEC. The Israel Bonds corporation sponsors the SFOF, which in turn invites state treasurers to Israel Bonds briefings. SFOF even organized a 2024 letter to then-President Biden, resolving to continue investing in Israel bonds. Treasurer Elliott and Comptroller Nieshalla both signed this letter, while credit rating agencies downgraded Israel bonds. How can you claim to act objectively in our financial best interests while using your role as state financial officers to engage in pro-Israel advocacy?

Whether out of commitment to your fiduciary duty, moral obligation, or the concerns of voters and stakeholders, the directive is clear: divest from Israel bonds. At a time when local governments in Indiana face severe budget constraints, the over $100 million currently invested in Israel bonds could better serve our communities through local investments. As organizations, faith groups, constituents, and INPRS members, we unite to demand: stop buying and renewing Israel bonds, and invest in Indiana!