Palm Beach County and Florida support Israel with an additional $255 million investment
Palm Beach County officials are further expressing support for Israel by making an additional $135 million investment in the country, leading to a total of $160 million worth of bonds in the county since the Israel-Hamas war began earlier this month.
The county’s purchase is the single-largest purchase in the history of Israel bonds. The announcement was made Tuesday morning at Congregation Torah Ohr in Century Village in West Boca by Joseph Abruzzo, the county’s circuit court clerk and comptroller, the office managing the county’s investments.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis also announced in a statement Tuesday the state treasury will invest an additional $120 million in Israel bonds, bringing Florida’s total Israel bond investment to $200 million.
Palm Beach County’s decision comes about three weeks after the county announced it bought $25 million worth of bonds from Israel on Oct. 11, becoming the first government body in the United States to do so after Hamas terrorists conducted surprise attacks Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.
“We will stand with our strongest ally in the incredible state of Israel,” Abruzzo said. The bonds “will assist Israel in running their government.”
Mark Ruben, the executive director of Israel Bonds in Palm Beach County, the broker-dealer underwriting securities issued by Israel in the U.S., said they’ve been selling Israel bonds since 1951, amounting to $50 billion.
“Israel bonds never missed a payment of principal or interest,” Ruben said. “Whether the times were economic prosperity, economic setbacks, peace, war, always.”
Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County, said the bond purchases are a win for humanity, democracy and the taxpayers because they’ll receive a return on the investment.
“This is a fight against inhumanity against barbarism, against an evil terrorist group that seeks to wipe out Jews wherever they live,” he said. “Palm Beach County will reject antisemitism, will reject hate and will fight against terrorism, barbarism, inhumanity and Hamas.”
The bonds are either for two or three years, with interest rates at about 5.3% and 5.4%, respectively, Ruben said.
Similar to Palm Beach County, the state in recent weeks has made announcements about its investments: Since 2017, the state has purchased $310 million in Israel bonds, generating approximately $6.4 million in interest.
“Following the horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7, I vowed to assist our allies in Israel both morally and monetarily,” Patronis said in a statement. “As we’ve seen throughout history, democracy and freedom are fragile, and Florida proudly stands with Israel, the only democratic nation in the Middle East.”
