Cambridge City Council Narrowly Votes to Divest from Companies Tied to Israel

After orders to divest and boycott companies tied to Israel sparked a contentious stretch of public comment last week, the Cambridge City Council narrowly voted on Wednesday to divest city funds from five companies: Palantir Technologies Inc., Elbit Systems, Lockheed Martin, GE Aerospace, and Boeing.

The original policy, introduced by Councilors Ayah A. Al-Zubi ’23 and Jivan G. Sobrinho-Wheeler on Oct. 19, would have ordered the city to divest from companies named by the American Friends Service Committee as having “severe and consistent involvement directly contributing to genocide, apartheid, and occupation of Palestinians.”

In a 5-4 vote, the Council passed an amended version: striking mention of the AFSC shortlist and instead naming the five companies directly. Through its pension fund, the city has approximately $2.6 million invested in Palantir, and an additional $18.2 million in weapons manufacturers, including Elbit and Lockheed Martin. The city also reported investments in GE and Boeing through its Other Post-Employment Benefits Trust Fund and the Massachusetts Municipal Depository Trust.

The amended order, introduced by Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem, also includes an added clause clarifying that passing the order is not an endorsement of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

The approved order also includes a clause proposed by Councilor Marc C. McGovern, which adds that the five named companies have also “been found to be complicit in the United Arab Emirates-backed Rapid Support Force’s genocide in Sudan, arm U.S backed militias cited for human rights absuses in The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and have ongoing multi-billion-dollar contracts with ICE.”

Spokespeople for Palantir, Elbit Systems, Lockheed Martin, GE Aerospace, and Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The changes come on the heels of an hourslong public comment session last week, which punted the Council’s discussion of the order to a second day. Councilors raised concern that the order as initially written would unfairly single out Israel, arguing that the intention of the order should be to bar the city funds from supporting “terror or war crimes or equally horrific acts” in other countries.

Councilor Timothy R. Flaherty argued that a policy solely focused on Israel would effectively target Jewish people.

“Singling out Israel is, in effect, in my view, an exercise that would single out Jewish people,” he said. “I won’t be a part of that.”

Councilor Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 also warned that the measure could deepen divisions within Cambridge. Nolan argued that the orders could put residents at risk and fuel political extremism.

“Passing these POs, we know and we’ve heard, does endanger our residents, divides our city, helps the far right both in the U.S. and Israel, and makes us more likely to be a target for the Trump administration attacks and makes us complicit in rising antisemitism,” she said.

Nolan, Flaherty, and Councilor E. Denise Simmons introduce their own amended version of the policy order, which struck all mentions of any particular country — and asked city staff to create a “uniform, evidence-based divestment policy” to ensure the city is able to evaluate its financial ties to companies linked to “crimes against humanity, war crimes, support of terrorism, human trafficking, or unlawful forcible displacement.”

Simmons argued that a policy targeting companies implicated in human rights abuses should apply universally rather than focus on a particular country.

“If our concern is focused on companies that enable genocide, apartheid, and persecution, there should be zero objections to a standard that applies that to every company that does so in every country,” she said.

The order was supported by Nolan, Flaherty, Simmons, and Councilor Catherine “Cathie” Zusy, but failed by a 5-4 vote. Flaherty, Nolan, Simmons, and Zusy all voted against Azeem and McGovern’s policy order, which was approved by a 5-4 vote.

Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, who voted in favor of Azeem and McGovern’s amended policy, emphasized the value of municipal action — even if Cambridge’s divestment cannot resolve the larger conflict.

“The fact that one action can’t solve a problem is not a reason to be complicit in it,” she said.

The Council also weighed a second order that Al-Zubi and Sobrinho-Wheeler proposed last week, which sought legal review of the city’s ability to boycott companies implicated in alleged human rights abuses against Palestinians — requesting an analysis from the city solicitor on the potential legal and financial consequences of restricting city contracts.

Nolan said she worried that pursuing a blanket boycott order could unintentionally impact Palestinians who still own and conduct business in the West Bank.

“There’s a lot of folks who run companies who said this kind of policy has also really hurt Palestinians in the West Bank and others, and have displaced jobs,” she said. “That’s part of why I don’t think this is something that I could support.”

Other councilors worried that passing the order could bring future legal risks to the city, pointing to a similar issue in Medford. Medford passed an ordinance to divest from weapons manufacturing, fossil fuels, private prisons, and severe human rights violations — and has since faced a federal lawsuit that argues the ordinance is an unconstitutional anti-Israel boycott.

City Solicitor Megan Bayer noted that a federal magistrate has recommended that the judge dismiss the case against Medford for a lack of standing, but that the boycott order “touches on some of the same legal issues in that case.”

And while the boycott order would have only referred the proposed ordinance to a committee meeting and requested further analysis from Bayer, it failed to gain support from the Council. The order was rejected in a 5-4 vote, with Azeem, Nolan, Flaherty, Zusy, and Simmons all voting against.

—Staff writer Maya Fu can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Risha Sinha can be reached at [email protected].