Your office invests the pension fund money of teachers and state and municipal employees.  Of all the $113 million you have invested in Israel stocks and bonds, the investment of over a million dollars in Elibt is one of the worst.  Elbit is Israel's largest weapons manufacturer, and its products are being used in the months-long terrible warfare against Palestinians in Gaza.  Elbit produces cluster munitions, weaponized white phosphorus, and flechette projectiles. The use of these weapons is prohibited under a 2008 international treaty signed by 111 countries.

One of Elbit’s key products is military drones. In 2014 its Hermes drone was involved in a notorious incident at a Gaza beach where the drone gunned down 4 cousins playing soccer.  The oldest was 11.

Now it sells a Lanius drone that can fly into buildings and open fire. On Feb. 15 of 2024 a quadcopter almost surely built by Elbit flew into Nasser hospital and sprayed rooms with bullets and shot a Palestinian doctor in the head.

And on February 29th Israel committed the “Flour Massacre” killing over 100 on the spot with over 700 injuries.    Democracy Now reported Palestinians in northern Gaza were waiting for food aid when “they came under fire from Israeli tanks and drones.”  Elbit drones again.

Your office bans investments in companies making consumer rifles and pistols because of the recklessness of these companies and the resulting deaths and injuries.  We should not invest in an Israeli company whose products are sure to cause multiples of those casualties.

Connecticut's Treasury divested itself from all Russian stocks shortly after Putin's invasion of Ukraine.  It was not ordered to do so by the Connecticut legislature or the federal government.  It was a decision of the Treasurer.  Treasurer Russell, divest all of our Elbit stock immediately.