UAW Votes to Divest From Israel Bonds — Anti-Zionism Now in the Union’s Constitution

The United Auto Workers union voted Thursday at its quadrennial constitutional convention in Detroit to amend its governing documents to prohibit investment in Israel bonds, making the UAW the largest and most consequential American labor union to institutionalize BDS-aligned financial policy. The vote was narrow but binding — written into the UAW constitution, not merely a resolution. Abdul El-Sayed, the far-left figure previously connected to an anti-Israel activist indicted on threat charges, spoke at the convention, a signal of who is now shaping UAW’s politics.

• Constitutional amendment — the divestment was written into the UAW’s governing documents, making it binding policy rather than a symbolic resolution subject to reversal.
• The UAW held an estimated $400,000 to $700,000 in Israel Bonds and securities; the passage is expected to result in full divestment.
• Abdul El-Sayed — a far-left Michigan politician connected to a convicted anti-Israel activist who ran a threat campaign against pro-Israel figures — spoke at the convention and is described as a key political force inside the UAW.
• The vote reflects a broader pattern: major U.S. labor institutions — UAW, UTLA, SEIU chapters — are increasingly institutionalizing anti-Israel financial and political positions.
• The UAW represents roughly 400,000 active members in the auto, aerospace, and academic sectors, giving this divestment broad signaling value to other unions.

This is the most significant labor-sector BDS action in American history by asset size and institutional permanence — a constitutional amendment cannot be reversed by a single vote at the next meeting. The question for the next 12-24 months is whether the UAW vote functions as a permission structure for other major unions with Israel bond holdings, or whether the narrowness of the margin limits its contagion effect.

With New York’s June 23 Democratic primaries one day away, Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a campaign rally calling AIPAC “monsters” and throwing his support behind DSA-aligned congressional challengers, including Darializa Avila Chevalier in NY-13 and other anti-Israel candidates. AIPAC is backing incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat and other moderate Democrats. The primaries will test whether Mamdani’s political machine — and Justice Democrats’ unprecedented spending — can flip congressional seats to DSA candidates who have refused to condemn Hamas.

• Mamdani called AIPAC “monsters” at the rally and explicitly backed candidates for their opposition to Israel, not merely Gaza policy.
• In NY-13, DSA candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier has refused to condemn Hamas; a Manhattan left-wing club that endorsed Mamdani still declined to back her on those grounds.
• AIPAC is actively boosting Rep. Adriano Espaillat in NY-13 against the DSA challenge and supporting other moderate Democrats across the ballot.
• Justice Democrats PAC has deployed unprecedented spending across multiple NY races, replicating the anti-Israel primary strategy that toppled incumbents in earlier cycles.
• Results Tuesday will determine whether Mamdani’s endorsement machinery has the reach to elect anti-Israel congressional candidates in addition to himself.

Tuesday's results will be the first hard data point on whether DSA's Israel-opposition strategy translates electoral capital from mayoral races into congressional seats. A Chevalier or similar DSA win in a New York primary would mark a structural shift in the congressional delegation — not just a symbolic protest vote.

Vice President JD Vance — now labeled the Iran deal’s chief architect inside the administration — delivered a week of public attacks on Israel over Lebanon operations, drawing sharp alarm from pro-Israel observers. Meanwhile, a new Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was announced after Hezbollah fired 50+ rockets at IDF forces, killing four soldiers; Switzerland talks between the US and Iran were canceled and then partially rescheduled. Iran has also begun claiming control of the Strait of Hormuz and seeing immediate oil revenue gains from the MOU.

• Vance is described as the “architect” of the Iran MOU and has spent the week publicly attacking Israeli leaders — a significant escalation in the U.S.-Israel framing war within the Trump administration.
• Hezbollah fired 50+ rockets at IDF forces in Lebanon on Saturday; Israel retaliated with airstrikes; at least 27 reported killed in southern Lebanon.
• Switzerland talks for MOU implementation were canceled Friday after the Lebanon flare-up; a new ceasefire was announced; Witkoff is heading to Geneva as the situation remains fluid.
• Iran has moved to tighten its grip on the Strait of Hormuz and is reporting an immediate oil revenue surge from eased export restrictions under the MOU.
• Trump called Netanyahu a “warrior PM” and touted great ties with Israel — but U.S. intelligence has reportedly warned Netanyahu could try to undermine the Iran deal.

Vance publicly attacking Israel while branded the MOU's architect is the significant new development — it signals a faction inside the White House with a structural interest in marginalizing Israeli influence on Iran diplomacy. Whether this reflects Trump's actual direction or an internal power struggle between Vance and Trump's more pro-Israel advisors is the key question the next 60-day negotiating window will answer.

Norway’s government announced a proposed bill that would ban all trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, with the legislation subject to three months of consultations before a parliamentary vote. The bill is widely expected to pass, as Norway’s Foreign Minister has characterized the settlements as undermining the foundations of international order. The move follows a broader European pattern — France walling off Israeli booths at a Paris defense show, Paris granting honorary citizenship to Palestinians — as BDS-adjacent legal frameworks gain state-level traction.

• Norway’s proposed bill would ban all import and export of goods from Israeli settlements — making it one of the most sweeping national-level BDS-adjacent measures in a Western democracy.
• The bill is subject to three months of consultations before a vote; Norwegian officials describe passage as expected.
• The move follows France‘s decision to wall off Israeli booths at the Paris Eurosatory defense exhibition and Paris’s city council granting honorary citizenship to Palestinians.
• Norway is an OECD member and NATO ally — its adoption of a settlement trade ban would give legal cover and momentum to similar proposals in other European parliaments.
• Israel’s Foreign Ministry described the proposed ban as undermining diplomatic foundations; Israel cut ties last week with EU foreign affairs chief Kallas over “apartheid” remarks.

Settlement trade bans are the legal mechanism through which BDS achieves state-level enforcement without formal BDS resolutions. Norway's bill, if passed, gives the European BDS ecosystem its first Western model legislation, which will be exported to other parliaments. The political window for pro-Israel legislative counter-pressure in Europe is narrowing.