The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted this week to draft an “ethical investment policy,” one that opponents expect will advance efforts to divest from companies doing business with Israel.
The decision, which directs the county treasurer to write the policy, passed unanimously.
During discussion before the vote, treasurer Henry Levy dropped a surprise announcement that he had in fact already made the first divestment — from Caterpillar, the U.S. construction equipment maker that has long been a target of the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.
BDS supporters accuse Texas-based Caterpillar of selling machinery to Israel that the military uses to raze Palestinian-owned buildings and homes in the West Bank and Gaza. Although Levy did not explicitly say why he selected the company for divestment, he cited a policy from the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment calling for “heightened due diligence when conflict is occurring.”
“Alameda County has a longtime history of aligning our investment decisions with our values,” Supervisor Keith Carson said at Tuesday’s meeting. “Many people point to South Africa, but also Burma in 1996, so this is not a new endeavor.”
It was Carson who introduced the recommendation, which says the treasurer will develop an investment policy that “reflects our county’s core values of sustainability, social responsibility, and compassion.” It also states that “companies with a persistent record of direct involvement in severe human rights violations, such as war crimes, apartheid and crimes against humanity” may fit “exclusion criteria.”
At least 100 Pro-Palestinian activists, many wearing kaffiyehs, dominated the board room and the overflow room. They used the time for public comments to support Carson’s recommendation, as well as to accuse Israel of a host of evils, including genocide and white supremacy.
Along with general comments, there was emotional and ugly rhetoric — the kind that has become commonplace in public meetings over cease-fire resolutions and measures condemning Israel since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and the start of the war in Gaza.
Levy, who has been the county’s treasurer and tax collector since 2017, told the supervisors that his decision to divest from Caterpillar fell under an existing investment policy from 2020 that allows the county to consider “socially responsible” investments, in addition to financially sensible ones.
“In my opinion, today’s discussion should be about creating better investment policy, not about divestment. However, it is on the table, so let’s get it out: I have initiated the sale of three bonds of the Caterpillar Corp.,” Levy said. “Two of our three positions have already been sold.”
Levy also discussed his position more broadly, taking a personal tone.
“Because this involves the issue of Israel and Judaism, I would like to have a moment of personal privilege as the only Jewish elected official for the County of Alameda,” he said. “I feel a great sorrow that long histories of trauma have triggered fear, still trigger fear, and other emotions when issues like this emerge.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations celebrated the board’s vote, saying in a press release that it followed “months of advocacy” by a group called Bay Area Divest.
Israel supporters who attended the meeting described the public comments as an unfair malignment of Israel and a double standard.
While the recommendation for an ethical investment policy mentions only South Africa and Burma, Israel advocates said it’s clear the policy will single out the Jewish state while ignoring the actions of many other countries.
“That selective outrage makes me crazy,” Rinat Fried, an Oakland resident who attended the meeting, told J. afterward. “There’s an inconsistency here.”
She called the recommendation an “impulsive, half-baked idea.”
Linda Press Wulf, who attended the meeting and serves on the steering committee of the Jewish Coalition of Berkeley, agreed that Israel is the county’s target.
“Not one speaker, except us, questioned if this means divesting from China because of the Uyghurs, or divesting from oil-producing countries in the Middle East because of their oppression of women and gays,” Wulf said in an email to J. after the meeting. “Instead, all the speech was ‘f— Israel’ and ‘genocide’ and ‘colonialist apartheid regime.’”
One Israel supporter, who spoke at the meeting over Zoom, said the supervisors had allowed speakers to make extreme accusations against Israel without pushback.
“You should be ashamed to allow this speech to be used in this meeting,” the speaker said. “If you wonder why there’s so few Jews and Israelis in this meeting in person, it’s because of this kind of hate and intimidation tactics that are constantly being used against us.”
Supervisor David Haubert earlier had challenged Levy, noting that Caterpillar is not a weapons manufacturer. Haubert said that he supports an ethical investment policy but that disentangling the Middle East conflict is “above our pay grade.”
“Some people have said that we want to step in and stop Israel in their tracks; other people have said Israel is trying to defend itself; other people have said this is a proxy war between Syria and Iran and all these other things,” he said.
When people booed, Haubert added: “We can agree to disagree, guys. We don’t have to be disagreeable.”