*MEDIA ADVISORY: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE* Monday, November 10, 3:00 pm Media Contacts: Bob Goonin: 608 606-6031 Lina Jebara: 313-909-1448 Karen Schraufnagel 651-283-3495 (for detailed financial questions) PRESS CONFERENCE AT STATE CAPITOL: The MN BDS Community and the Anti-War Committee will hold a press conference to highlight the near total divestment of Israel Bonds by the State Board of Investment. When: Monday, November 10, at 3:00 pm What: Press Conference Who: The MN BDS Community, the Anti-War Committee and Community members Where : State Capitol rotunda, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul The Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) divests 96% of its Israel bonds In a major victory for pensioners and community activists who have pressured the SBI to divest from Israel Bonds for more than a decade, the SBI has partially conceded to that demand. Israel Bonds are a direct loan to an Israeli state with a history of ethnic cleansing , occupation , and apartheid During the past two years, community opposition to the SBI bond holdings intensified as Israel employed starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians, worsening what top genocide scholars have concluded is a genocide. Against this backdrop, the MN BDS (boycott-divestment-sanctions) Community filed a data practices request in early 2025 requiring the SBI to provide the history of its trades in Israel Bonds. Forced to do so, the SBI finally released all of its Israel bond transactions this October, dating back to 2009. That history revealed that after peaking at $13.3 million in December of 2020, the SBI has sold all of its Israel Bonds - that we know of - except for one $470,000 bond. The bonds that the SBI purchased between 2021 and 2023 were sold at a loss of $830,000. Community opposition — notably including public workers with pensions managed by the SBI —had included a wide variety of tactics, demanding divestment in private meetings, at public events, in testimony before the SBI, at large rallies and in civil disobedience. In response, the SBI repeatedly defended its inaction by stating it could not divest because it must uphold its fiduciary responsibilities. Yet during this same period, Moody’s rating service had downgraded the Israeli government’s credit worthiness twice, ending just above speculative investments and with a negative outlook. Faced with both intense pressure from the community, and the reality that Israel Bonds were a poor and risky investment, the State Board began, behind the scenes, steadily divesting from Israel Bonds. This was a huge victory for all those who have taken part in the divestment campaign. But Israel Bonds are just the start. According to one analysis of the SBI’s portfolio, it still holds about $5.6 billion of assets in companies identified by many to be directly aiding and profiting from Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Next steps will be discussed at the press conference. For more information, quotes, or pictures please reach out to the contacts listed above.