Deputies escorted former Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback out of Miami-Dade County Commission chambers this week after he tried to speak against a policy change expanding the county's investment in Israeli bonds. Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez instructed sheriff's deputies to remove people attempting to speak on the item, and Fishback was among those pushed toward the exits.
The commission approved a new county investment policy that raises the cap on Israel bonds from 3% to 5% of Miami-Dade's roughly $8 billion portfolio, according to the Miami Herald. Commissioner René García, who sponsored the measure, said it raises the limit on Israel bonds but does not mandate any purchases, and added that it simply gives the clerk and investment personnel flexibility to select the best yields for the community. The commission approved the policy without discussion, per the same report.
Under Miami-Dade's procedural rules, public comment is generally barred on full-commission agenda items that were already heard by a committee — and the Israel bond changes had passed through the Intergovernmental and Economic Impact Committee in July. That rule is what set up the confrontation when Fishback tried to weigh in anyway.
A Third-Place Finisher Still Chasing the Spotlight
Fishback, described by the Herald as a hard-right former candidate for Florida governor, finished third in the state's Republican gubernatorial primary. He took 10.5% of the vote, or 177,809 ballots, trailing primary winner Byron Donalds at 47.8% and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins at 25.2%, according to WUSF. During his campaign, Fishback had faced accusations of antisemitism, an issue that trailed him into the primary alongside a failed legal eligibility challenge from Collins that a Leon County circuit judge rejected in July, allowing him to stay on the ballot, as covered previously by Judge Keeps Fishback On Primary Ballot.
Fishback told the Herald he was not at the meeting to talk about Israel, saying instead that the United States needs to put America first. He said the confrontation ended with him ejected from county hall, telling the paper that deputies moved him to a rear exit and down stairs to street level.
Advocates Who've Fought This Fight for Years Want Nothing to Do With Him
Fishback's appearance complicated a campaign that predates his run for governor. Jared Simon, who helped lead the campaign against expanded investment rules for Israel bonds, said the commission did not actually discuss the legislation before approving it, and that many commissioners were not listening to him during public comment. Simon was clear that his fellow advocates wanted nothing to do with Fishback, saying they were not aligned with him despite showing up at the same meeting over the same agenda item.
That distancing reflects a broader local movement. Miami-Dade held roughly $151 million in Israeli bonds before this policy change, up from $76 million in late 2023 when Mayor Daniella Levine Cava authorized an expanded purchase, according to WLRN. During the county's September 2025 budget hearings, local advocacy groups and Ted Cava — the mayor's own son — publicly urged officials to divest from those bonds and redirect the money toward transit and affordable housing, as reported by Caplin News. Levine Cava has noted that portfolio decisions ultimately sit with the elected clerk rather than her office; Miami-Dade Clerk and Comptroller Juan Fernandez-Barquin, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 and later elected, holds statutory authority over executing the county's actual bond purchases, even though commissioners set the maximum portfolio percentages.
A Statewide Trend Removed the Guardrails
The policy shift in Miami-Dade tracks a broader change in state law. In 2025, Florida lawmakers passed CS/SB 1674, signed by DeSantis, eliminating minimum credit-rating requirements for local government investments in Israeli bonds — a change that came after credit rating agencies downgraded Israeli sovereign debt in 2024 and 2025 over geopolitical risk. Neighboring Palm Beach County has gone much further, becoming the single largest local-government investor in Israeli bonds anywhere in the world, holding $1 billion in total bond positions after a $350.5 million purchase in January, per GrayStak Media. Nationally, state treasurers and municipal entities held more than $1.6 billion in Israeli bonds by early 2024, with institutional sales rising sharply after October 2023, according to LittleSis.
Fishback's push against Israeli bond holdings was a signature plank of his campaign well before he showed up in Miami-Dade chambers. He repeatedly pledged during the race to direct all Florida government entities to immediately divest an estimated $385 million from Israeli bonds on his first day in office, with the funds redirected into a statewide down-payment assistance program. His removal from the Miami-Dade meeting also fits a pattern that continued after his primary loss — days earlier, he testified before the Martin County Commission against hyperscale data centers, a appearance detailed in Hoodline's prior report, Martin County Weighs Data Center Pause.
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