James Fischback, a former Republican candidate for Florida governor, was forcibly removed from a Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday afternoon after protesting the county’s decision to expand its investment in Israel-backed bonds.
“Do you serve the people of Hialeah or of Haifa? Do you serve the people of Aventura or of Tel Aviv? Do you serve the people of South Miami or of Jerusalem? This money should be invested here in this community. It should be invested in Miami-Dade County,” Fischback said before officers escorted him from the room.
The confrontation follows a vote earlier this summer in which the county raised its investment cap tied to Israel from 3% to 5% of its portfolio, a change that could allow the county to invest roughly $400 million to $450 million. The decision has drawn criticism from opponents who object to public funds being used for Israel-linked investments amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
“What this is about, very simply, is whom do you serve?” Fischback said at the meeting.
Fischback was not the only speaker to raise objections. A woman who identified herself as Ivar Fandel, wearing a “let Gaza live” shirt, addressed commissioners about the agenda item, known as 5B.
“Item 5B does exist in the context of a budget crisis as well as a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of Israel,” Fandel said.
Fischback ran as one of 11 Republican candidates seeking to succeed outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis, winning 10.4% of the vote in the Aug. 18 primary. His campaign drew national attention for a series of confrontational on-camera moments, including repeated remarks directed at Rep. Byron Donalds, the eventual GOP nominee and one of the only Black Republicans in Congress.
At a news conference, Fischback said: “Byron Donalds is a slave. I’m sorry, he’s a slave. He is a slave to his donors. He is a slave to the corporate interests, to the tech bros that want to turn our state into, in his own words, a financial capital.”
He later confronted Donalds directly outside a car with a megaphone, shouting, “You’re a DEI hire. You’re a slave. Go back to New York.”
A Longstanding Position on Israel Investment
During his gubernatorial campaign, Fischback said he was one of the only Republican candidates to decline contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and he pledged to push for divestment from Israel-backed bonds.
“Florida has a specific policy. You’re not allowed to use taxpayer funds to buy foreign government bonds, with one exception: Israel. And so my premise is, first principles, we should not be lending taxpayer pensioner money to any foreign government,” Fischback said in an interview with the American Conservative.
He also criticized other candidates, including Donalds, for what he called “singular allegiance” to Israel, writing on X: “I think people like Randy Fine and other AIPAC politicians have a singular allegiance. And that allegiance is to the best interests of Israel. The idea of saying ‘I am running to represent a foreign country’s interest in the United States Congress’ is preposterous. They’re buying allegiance.”
Fischback did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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