SACRAMENTO — Protesters on California campuses are calling for universities to divest from Israel, but is it possible?
This is one of the demands of student protesters at Sacramento State University.
“Universities that are colluding are investing, and not only universities but also companies and others. This is a terrible business decision,” said Cair spokesman Omar al-Tamimi.
California’s UC and CSU systems both issued statements saying they do not intend to change existing investment policies related to Israel or the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
The UC System has $23 billion in endowment investments, and the California State University System has $2.5 billion in endowment investments.
Their portfolios are public, and many of the mutual funds’ assets are divided into small individual stocks, making it difficult to determine what portion of the investment goes to operations in Israel.
Caleb Silver is the CEO of Investopedia. He noted that California’s public universities and school retirement systems have recently chosen to exit the economic sector.
“We’re talking about large investments that have been made over many years,” Silver said. “It was certainly a symbolic gesture, but it also removed your voice from the conversation as a shareholder.”
In 2020, the UC system divested from fossil fuels. In 2007, Calpers and Calstars withdrew from Iran due to ties to terrorist financing. In 2006, the UC system separated from Sudan over the Darfur genocide.
Dillon Hozier works for the Israeli American Civic Action Network. He said a sale by a public university would likely lead to swift litigation.
“Even in the most unlikely of circumstances, if the state of California, the Legislature and the governor, agree to it, it would be preempted by federal law, so they’re really saying it to the wind. ‘This is it,”’ Hozier said.
Hozier said the federal government needs to give states the right to prohibit state funds from investing in certain foreign countries.
Congress has taken similar actions against Iran and Sudan. It does not recognize Israel’s rights.
