$1 BILLION For Isr.ael. A Palestinian Lawyer In Handcuffs. Welcome To Palm Beach.
By Shizza Umer
A public budget hearing in Palm Beach County, Florida, erupted into confrontation on September 15 after more than 100 people packed the hearing, many seeking to oppose the county’s extraordinary $1 billion investment in Isr.ael Bonds.
By the end of the confrontation, the chamber had been cleared and Palestinian-American human-rights lawyer and Rutgers University professor Noura Erakat had been arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing.
But the story began years before anyone was placed in handcuffs.
Palm Beach County held roughly $5 million in Isr.ael Bonds in 2021. The position expanded dramatically after October 7, 2023. On October 31 that year, then-Clerk Joseph Abruzzo announced an additional $135 million purchase.
By January 2026, Clerk and Comptroller Mike Caruso announced another $350.5 million purchase, bringing the county’s position to exactly $1 billion. The county described it as the largest Isr.ael Bond investment held by any investor in the world.
Why Did Palm Beach Invest $1 Billion?
County officials say the reason is financial.
Caruso said the Isr.ael Bonds were earning approximately 4.49%, compared with roughly 3.5% for the county’s average portfolio. Officials projected approximately $136 million in interest over three years across the full $1 billion position, with around $47 million of that coming from the $350.5 million purchase itself, about $23 million more than alternative investments would have returned.
At the time, Isr.ael Bonds represented roughly 16% of Palm Beach County’s approximately $6 billion investment portfolio, below an 18% cap previously approved by commissioners. Caruso publicly characterized investment policy as a matter of safety, liquidity and market-rate return rather than politics.
Caruso has since been suspended following his arrest in an unrelated criminal case.
Critics see the investment differently. Municipal finance experts have described concentrating so much public money in one type of investment as highly unusual and possibly risky, a point that concerns Palm Beach taxpayers regardless of their position on the w.r.
Every Door Was Already Closed
The residents in that room had already tried the courts.
In October 2025, three Palestinian-American county residents sued over the investment. On 22 July 2026, Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley dismissed the case for lack of standing. He expressed sympathy for residents with family members affected in either Isr.ael or Gaza, but wrote that it is “speculative to find a causal link between the investments at issue and the d.ath of family members or loved ones in Gaza.”
He did not rule on the underlying claims. The plaintiffs are appealing. An earlier 2024 case against Abruzzo was voluntarily dropped in early 2025 on procedural grounds.
So residents came to the budget hearing instead. There, they were told the bonds were not a budget item.
What Happened Inside The Hearing?
Before public comment began on September 15, County Mayor Sara Baxter said speakers could address only the proposed budget being considered. She limited speakers to one minute each, restricted comment to county residents, and warned that disruption including applause could lead to removal. At one point she ordered deputies to remove a woman after seeing her clap.
Opponents continued trying to discuss the bonds. Several speakers were interrupted or removed.
One confrontation involved a man in an Air Force uniform who identified himself as a county resident of more than 50 years and said he had deployed four times.
“I strongly oppose extending the Isr.aeli Bond investment,” he told commissioners.
County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo responded that the bonds were not part of that night’s discussion.
“There is nothing in our budget that lays out anything to do with Isr.ael Bonds,” Abruzzo said. “You are not setting investment policy today whatsoever.”
Abruzzo is the same official who, as Clerk and Comptroller, announced the $135 million purchase in October 2023 and oversaw the expansion of the county’s holdings before Caruso.
When the veteran asked when the issue could be discussed, Baxter gave him a final warning and ordered deputies to remove him. As he was escorted out, Commissioner Joel Flores told him:
“You’re embarrassing that uniform, sir.”
Near the end of the hearing, Commissioner Maria Sachs returned to the moment. “We need to always respect our veterans,” she said. She then added: “Shame on anyone who wears the uniform of the United States and comes in and does not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.”
The confrontation escalated until commissioners recessed the hearing and deputies cleared the chamber.
Lydia Ghuman, executive director of the Internationalist Law Center, said her organization brought roughly 100 people to the hearing and believed the bonds were relevant because commissioners were discussing surplus funds available for investment.
“We came to give public comment on the budget because they were discussing surplus funds that night,” Ghuman said.
She said that once the recess began, “The sheriff came out and said, ‘Anyone who is here to speak about Isr.ael Bonds must leave.’”
The Arrest
Erakat refused an instruction to leave. She was arrested in the atrium during the recess and charged with misdemeanor trespassing. She spent the night in county jail and was released on bond the following morning.
A probable-cause affidavit obtained by CBS12 News says Baxter and a deputy told Erakat she was no longer authorized to remain inside the Governmental Center, that she said she had a constitutional right to stay, and that she refused multiple warnings to leave. The deputy wrote that she had to “forcefully move” Erakat while escorting her out, and alleged that Erakat continued to “incite the riot” by yelling toward the crowd and “amping them up.”
Erakat was not charged with rioting, inciting vi.lence, disorderly conduct or resisting arrest. The only charge was misdemeanor trespassing.
Video posted by the Internationalist Law Center shows her handcuffed inside an elevator, asserting her right to remain.
Erakat and civil-rights advocates have characterized the incident as suppression of political speech. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, its Florida chapter and the Internationalist Law Center all condemned the arrest. CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said: “We stand in full solidarity with her and encourage elected officials nationwide to do the same.”
County officials maintained that public comments had to comply with the procedural limits of the budget hearing.
Adam Goldstein, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told CBS12 that officials generally may limit public comment to the subject of a government meeting, and that whether applause justifies removal depends on whether it disrupts proceedings. “If it’s momentary, transitory applauding, that should be within the rights of the attendees,” he said. Goldstein reviewed portions of the meeting but not the arrest footage, and did not offer an opinion on whether the arrest was lawful.
Importantly, Erakat was not charged with criticizing Isr.ael Bonds. The misdemeanor allegation concerned her refusal to leave after the chamber was ordered cleared. Whether the restrictions or their enforcement violated free-speech protections remains contested.
Palm Beach Is Only Part Of The Story
The financial relationship extends far beyond one Florida county.
Isr.ael Bonds reported that during the first six months after October 7, 2023, it sold more than $3 billion in bonds globally, nearly three times its recent average annual sales volume.
More than 35 U.S. state and municipal governments invested a combined $1.7 billion during that period. Palm Beach County was already the world’s largest Isr.ael Bonds investor when its holdings stood at $700 million.
Palm Beach’s position has since reached $1 billion.
That leaves two distinct debates.
County officials argue that the bonds provide attractive financial returns for taxpayers.
Opponents question the use of public funds to purchase Isr.aeli sovereign debt, how residents attempting to challenge that investment were treated at a public county meeting, and where exactly they are now supposed to raise it.
The footage of a Palestinian-American lawyer leaving in handcuffs may be what travelled around the internet.
But the $1 billion sitting behind that confrontation explains why the room was full in the first place.
By Shizza Umer
Sources
CBS12: Attorney arrested as Palm Beach County meeting erupts over $1B Isr.ael Bonds
CBS12: Palm Beach County invests $1 billion in Isr.ael Bonds, January 2026
Miami New Times: Human rights lawyer arrested in Palm Beach over $1B Isr.ael Bond protest
WLRN: Judge rules for Palm Beach County in lawsuit over $1 billion Isr.aeli bond investment
Democracy Now: Palestinian Attorney Noura Erakat Arrested at Palm Beach Hearing
Al Jazeera: Human rights lawyer Noura Erakat arrested at hearing against Isr.ael Bonds
Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller: $1 Billion Isr.ael Bonds Announcement (URL needed)
Isr.ael Bonds: Government Investment and Sales Data (URL needed)
Palm Beach Post coverage of the hearing (URL needed)
WPBF: Palm Beach County’s $1 Billion Investment (URL needed)
