New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed divestment from companies linked to Israel could cost the city’s pension funds more than $37 billion over ten years, according to a new analysis by the Anti-Defamation League and JLens.
The study examined 47 major US companies targeted by the anti-Israel BDS movement because they conduct business with Israel. The list includes some of America’s largest and most successful companies, including Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft.
Researchers compared a diversified investment portfolio with one excluding the BDS-targeted companies. Based on historical performance, they found a gap of approximately two percentage points annually. Applying that difference to New York City’s pension investments produced an estimated $37.55 billion in lost value between 2025 and 2035.
The largest projected loss—more than $15 billion—would hit the Teachers’ Retirement System. City employees could lose nearly $11 billion, while police and fire pension funds could lose more than $10 billion combined.
