On Nov. 3, Providence will vote on Question 7, which would prohibit the city from investing in the sovereign debt of “foreign countries conducting ethnic cleansing, apartheid, illegal military occupation or genocide” and in companies that “directly and knowingly enable and contribute to severe violations of international humanitarian law.” While the language of this ordinance appears neutral, its true target — Israel — is obvious. The Providence for Palestine coalition claims credit for the initiative on its website, describing itself as “united in (its) steadfast advocacy for Palestinian liberation.” Further, one of the coalition’s organizers acknowledged to the Boston Globe that Israel is the only country that the group believes would currently meet the measure’s criteria.
The question before Providence voters, then, is not whether divestment from countries and companies complicit in grave human rights violations is a commendable goal — in principle, we believe it is. Rather, the proposition asks whether Providence should divest from Israel, which we understand to be a different question.
Like the U.S. State Department, we reject the accusations that Israel is committing genocide and systemic humanitarian violations. Understood as such, Providence voters should reject this proposition for three reasons: It would burden Providence’s already-strained budget; it deprives all Providence residents of meaningful opportunities and sends a harmful message to our Jewish neighbors; and it offers an overly simplistic and counterproductive response to a difficult issue that deserves more thoughtful discourse.
For the most part, Providence does not invest directly in specific companies or countries for its pension fund. In 2024, Providence officials said that the city held roughly $30,000 in Israeli bonds within a larger bond fund, a tiny sum relative to the billions that have been invested in Israeli bonds worldwide and the over $600 million pension fund within which Providence holds the bonds. This means that about 0.004% of Providence’s pension fund is invested in Israeli bonds. Untangling these indirect investments would likely pose a significant challenge, potentially requiring the city to restructure its investment process and divert public resources toward implementing the ordinance. The Providence city treasurer told the Boston Globe that doing so would be unfeasible: “That would be impossible to monitor continuously, because some of these funds are constantly rebalancing, buying equities,” he said.
The proposition also faces potential obstacles and legal challenges that could tie up city resources. Mayor Brett Smiley, who said he would veto a similar City Council measure in 2024, told the Boston Globe that the ordinance would be “unenforceable” and could violate Rhode Island’s 2016 Anti-Discrimination in State Contracts Law, which bars the state, cities and towns from contracting with businesses that engage in discriminatory divestment or boycotts. Providence City Solicitor Jeff Dana further noted to the Globe that the ordinance is in direct violation of the Providence Home Rule Charter, which gives the Board of Investment Commissioners the authority to manage Providence’s fund. If Question 7 is passed, the city could face years of litigation fighting alleged violations. Providence is in a period of severe fiscal challenges. Are Providence residents really willing to devote city resources to litigating global affairs rather than fixing local issues?
Beyond the infeasibility of implementing such a measure, Question 7 would risk ending the various partnerships between Providence and Israeli institutions that our city’s residents benefit from. The ordinance signals to Israeli companies, non-profits and individuals that Providence does not welcome them, which could disincentivize such entities from continuing to offer opportunities in the city. Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School and Tel Aviv University’s Gray School of Medicine collaborate and train together, and Providence’s Miriam Hospital is a sister hospital to Israel’s Emek Medical Center, through which it learns innovative methods of treating patients, particularly those recovering from trauma. Brown and Ben-Gurion University students have spent summers collaborating on neurotechnology innovation, which has explored potentially life-saving technology including drowsiness detectors for drivers and fall prevention devices for the elderly.
Similarly, the Providence-based Rhode Island-Israel Collaborative provides significant research-and-development opportunities to Rhode Islanders and benefits the R.I. economy by building relationships between government organizations, entrepreneurs and investors. Through this collaboration, Israeli companies partnered with local Hispanic college students to create websites for Hispanic-owned small businesses, and Israeli students provided free marketing consulting to a local company. A meeting between Ocean State Labs executive director Danya Lavin, Rhode Island Life Science Hub Vice President of Programs and Strategic Partnerships Lilia Holt and RIIC CEO Avi Nevel centered around creating opportunities for Israeli life sciences companies to connect and partner with Ocean State Labs.
Up until now, Providence has cultivated a welcoming presence for Israelis to bring opportunities to the city. Smiley, who will leave office in January, traveled to Israel in 2025 and, after his trip, stated that he hoped to bring nuanced discussions about bridge-building between different communities back to Providence. In 2024, he opposed a City Council proposal to divest municipal investments from Israeli government bonds.
With Smiley’s term coming to an end, Providence’s continued commitment to fostering these relationships — and the benefits that come with them — is uncertain. Divestment would send a further signal that the city is moving away from the environment that has helped Israeli-American partnerships develop, potentially discouraging Israeli individuals and companies from maintaining or pursuing ties with Providence. If these relationships weaken, Rhode Islanders could lose the medical, scientific and economic benefits that the relationship currently provides.
It is also important to recognize that the overwhelming majority of American Jews support Israel’s existence and continued survival. Question 7 singles out the sole Jewish state in the world and ostracizes Jews for their belief in the right of the Jewish country to defend itself against surrounding terror groups seeking its annihilation. Amid so much suffering and conflict in the world, this proposition’s selective targeting of the world’s only Jewish nation risks marginalizing many of Providence’s thousands of Jewish residents, particularly at a time of heightened global and nationwide antisemitism.
Ultimately, Question 7 offers a narrow, simplistic remedy to a complex conflict, ignoring the nuances that are necessary for meaningful progress. The suffering in and around Israel has been immense on all sides: Terror attacks and war have led to devastating losses of life, and settler violence in the West Bank has increasingly created unlivable conditions for Palestinians there. We believe that while there are some on both sides who seek to perpetuate the conflict, there are many more who simply want to live their lives in peace. Question 7, however, makes progress harder. It chills the discourse and relationship-building that is necessary to make progress in the Middle East by casting Israel as solely responsible for the conflict, undermining the need for compromise that both sides must make in order to create a better future. And it does so by dangerously weaponizing the language of genocide and ethnic cleansing historically used to describe the intentional removal and killing of massive numbers of people — terms that we do not believe accurately describe Israel’s actions — further inciting division in our community without making tangible change in the Middle East.
We are not asking Providence voters to be enthusiastically and unequivocally supportive of Israel. Rather, we are asking them to reject this measure that forces a false choice, materially harms the Providence community and closes the door on dialogue and meaningful progress.
Clarification: This article has been updated with citations that more accurately support the argument being made. The Herald regrets the error.
Lev Kotler-Berkowitz ’27 and Leah Koritz ’27 are the co-presidents of Brown Students for Israel. Kotler-Berkowitz and Koritz are former senior staff writers for The Herald. They can be reached at leah_koritz@brown.edu and lev_kotler-berkowitz@brown.edu. Please send responses to this op-ed to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
Lev Kotler-Berkowitz was a senior staff writer covering city and state politics. He is from the Boston area and is a senior concentrating in Political Science and Economics. In his free time, Lev can be found playing baseball or running around with his dog.
Leah Koritz was a senior staff writer covering science & research. Leah is from Dover, Massachusetts and studies Public Health and Judaic Studies. In her free time, Leah enjoys hiking, watching the Red Sox and playing with her dog, Boba.
