Ocasio-Cortez Backs N.Y. Bill Limiting Donations to Israeli Settlements

A long-shot effort by left-leaning New York state lawmakers to curtail financial support for Israeli settlements has drawn a big-name backer — but she doesn’t have a vote in Albany.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who rarely wades into state politics, publicly backed a bill on Monday that could strip New York nonprofits of their tax-exempt status if their funds are used to support Israel’s military and settlement activity. Her involvement underscores the extent to which the war in Gaza and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians more broadly have animated the left flank of the Democratic Party as a pivotal election approaches.

“It is more important now than ever to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for endorsing and, in fact, supporting some of this settler violence that prevents a lasting peace,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said at a news conference. “This bill will make sure that the ongoing atrocities that we see happening in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the ongoing enabling of armed militias to terrorize Palestinians in the West Bank, do not benefit from New York State charitable tax exemptions.”

Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and State Senator Jabari Brisport introduced the bill, called the “Not on Our Dime” act, months before the Oct. 7 attack, saying it was an effort to prevent tax-exempt donations from subsidizing violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. It was widely criticized by Albany lawmakers and declared a “nonstarter.” Now its sponsors say they plan to revise the bill to prohibit “aiding and abetting” the resettling of the Gaza Strip or providing “unauthorized support” for Israeli military activity that violates international law.

“There’s a newfound consciousness in our country with regards to the urgency of Palestinian human rights, and we have to propose and advocate for legislation that reflects public sentiment,” Mr. Mamdani said in a recent interview, referring to some of Israel’s violence toward people in Gaza and the West Bank as “war crimes.”

The lawmakers announced the relaunch of the bill at an event at Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s Bronx district office on Monday morning, surrounded by left-leaning elected officials from the City Council and State Legislature. Asked why she had chosen to endorse a state-level bill, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said that it was “politically perilous” to do so and that she had wanted to support her colleagues.

She and others pointed to the important work done by Jewish charitable organizations in the city. But they said that some organizations were raising funds for extremist settlers, creating an obstacle to a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The changes to the bill come amid a spike in overall donations to Israel since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, and as some in the Israeli settler movement have called for rebuilding outposts in Gaza. The Israeli government dismantled settlements in Gaza in 2005, but at a rally in southern Israel last week, the far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was among those who called for a return.

Mr. Mamdani said that he thought the bill would have improved prospects this year. But its chances of ever becoming law remain exceedingly slim because of fierce opposition in Albany.

The Israel-Hamas war has bitterly divided Democrats in New York, traditionally a pro-Israel stronghold. Though the Democratic establishment steadfastly supports Israel, many young people and progressives are increasingly critical as the death toll in Gaza mounts. The pro-Palestinian protests that spread on college campuses in recent weeks have only intensified the debates.

In the political sphere, one of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s allies in the House, Representative Jamaal Bowman, is in danger of losing the Democratic primary next month for his seat representing the Bronx and Westchester after a contest that has largely revolved around the Israel-Hamas war. He faces a challenge from George Latimer, the Westchester County executive, who is backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

When “Not on Our Dime” was introduced last year, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, a Democrat from Queens, co-wrote a letter signed by the majority of Democrats in the assembly opposing the bill. The letter argued that the bill’s purpose was to “attack Jewish organizations” that provide charity to orphans, the poor and victims of terrorism. On Thursday, Ms. Rozic reiterated her opposition.

“I believe it intends harm on the Jewish community and its communal organizations,” Ms. Rozic said. “Instead we should be committed to finding common ground with our colleagues here in New York, rather than focusing on legislation aimed at dividing Democrats.”

The measure would allow the state attorney general to sue nonprofits for at least $1 million and revoke their tax-exempt status if they violate the bill’s restrictions. It would also allow Palestinians and others who say they were harmed by violations to sue the nonprofits.

In a post on X last year, Assemblyman Alex Bores, a Democrat, called it “fundamentally unserious as a legislative proposal” and wrote that it would create a “torrent of lawsuits” by people “with an ideological ax to grind.” Mr. Bores declined to comment beyond his previous statement.

Mr. Mamdani countered that the bill was all the more urgent in light of the bloodshed in Gaza and escalating attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. About 1,200 people in Israel were killed in the Oct. 7 attack, according to the Israeli authorities, and since then more than 35,000 people in Gaza have been killed, according to health officials in Gaza. In the West Bank during that period, 480 Palestinians have been killed, almost all by the army and 10 by settlers, and 10 Israelis have been killed, according to United Nations statistics.

Mr. Mamdani argued that a key premise of the bill was in line with American policy regarding Israeli settlements, which most countries view as illegal under international law. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken recently said that the United States views new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories as “inconsistent with international law.” The Biden administration, in an effort to tamp down the violence, has imposed sanctions on several settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.

One of the targets of the state bill, the Central Fund of Israel, rebutted how the group has been characterized by some of the bill’s supporters. Jay Marcus, one of the group’s leaders, called the bill antisemitic and said the fund donates to hundreds of charities, including schools and hospitals, and had been audited by the I.R.S.

The Central Fund’s website states that it has documents from the federal government “confirming that it is permissible to give charity in areas of the State of Israel and those under Israeli administration.”

The New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and numerous Arab, Muslim and left-leaning nonprofits previously backed the bill, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, Jewish Voice for Peace and the Adalah Justice project.

Mr. Mamdani’s office said the bill was the first of its kind, though a similar bill was introduced earlier this year in Maryland.

Mairav Zonszein, an Israeli-American analyst with the International Crisis Group based in Tel Aviv, said the bill was another sign of a shift in international opinion as the Gaza war drags on.

“I think that we’re in a climate right now in general where people have lost a lot of patience,” she said. “And the way that Israel has acted for years, with impunity, is kind of coming to a head now in both Gaza and the West Bank.”