Published: Jul 14, 2009
Author: WRMEA
At Berkeley, the hot topic was a bill in the California state legislature to permit state employees' and state teachers' pension funds to invest in Israeli bonds guaranteed by the U.S. government. At that point the bill had been passed by the California State Assembly, and the Senate was expected to take up the issue sometime in September.
It is only one part of an effort by the government of Israel's lobby in the United States to move some of the ever-increasing aid to Israel out of the federal budget, where it is becoming a real issue, into investments in Israel bonds by the huge state government pension funds. By turning such funds, from many different U.S. states and cities, into a major source of aid to Israel, its U. S. Lobby hopes to defuse a potentially explosive issue. ...
Whether or not this effort will succeed will depend on the amount the American public learns about the purchase of Israeli bonds by the widely scattered pension funds. Already, some 12 states have authorized this new means of financing Israeli deficits, which are mounting and are no more likely to be repaid than Israel's direct debts to the U.S. government. (Israel has never repaid a loan from the U.S. government. All, eventually, have been forgiven by the U.S. Congress.)
Since in the end these bonds issued by Israel will be the responsibility of the American government if Israel is unable to repay them, it makes little difference whether the aid to Israel is voted by Congress or authorized by the state legislatures, which control state pension funds. Either way, U.S. taxpayers ultimately will foot the bill. ...
No other country has such access to U.S. pension funds, and Israel is hardly the best risk. Japanese, German or other bonds from industrialized nations have had far better in vestment ratings. But the key to Israeli access to the funds has been that these formerly extremely risky Israeli bonds now are guaranteed by the U.S. government. No U.S. state or municipal bonds carry such U.S. government guarantees, of course.
http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0993/9309017.html
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California pension fund reveals vital info on Israeli VCs
The California state employees pension fund CalPERS issued an investment report over the weekend after repeated demands from members and the press, and the report offered a first look at the usually secret investment reports of private Israeli venture capital funds in which CalPERS is invested.
The report is based on fund managers' reports through September 30, 2002. Fund managers guard the confidentiality of the figures zealously, some, apparently for good reason. ...
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=289744&contrassID=2&subContrassID=2&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/investments/reports/home.xml
American pension funds look to Israel for investment
Among the participants in the delegation were: Alan Hevesi, Comptroller for New York state; Massacussetts State Treasurer Tim Cahill, Daniel Kurtzer, former US ambassador to Israel; as well as heads of CalPers, (California Public Employees Retirement System) CalSTRS, (California State Teachers? Retirement System), Pennsylvania Public Employees, Virginia Retirement System, and Stanford Management Co.
The visit was initiated by the World Pension Forum (WPF), which provides a forum for discussion and educational opportunities for the senior members of US pension funds.
"The WPF is sort of a governing body of state pension funds - they hold conference four times a year and provide educational tools for the state pension funds," explained Applbaum, who has extensive business dealings in Israel. ...
www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles^l1353&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Culture&
>>> Note: Most of these funds appear to be managed by persons loyal to Israel.
www.the-peoples-forum.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=13016
