Moody Leads Investigation into MSCI's Anti-Israel Involvement

The Israel-Hamas war continues to prove contentious in the United States, as groups organize to express sympathy for Palestinian civilians at best or justify Hamas at worst. Florida Attorney General (AG) Ashley Moody has recently begun investigating investment firm MSCI is potentially involved in the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BD) movement, saying, "The allegations against MSCI are deeply disturbing, and we have called for a quick response from the company’s leadership directly addressing our concerns."

Earlier in March, the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported that the New York-based firm would lower environmental social governance (ESG) scores for companies conducting business in Israel for supposed "human rights violations," such as Israeli defense contractors Elbit systems, Motorola, PayPal, and three Israeli banks such as Mizrahi, Leumi, and Hapoalim.

However, an MSCI spokesman told JNS "that the company does not use sanctions lists in its ratings processes," despite using non-government press releases and news reports in their ESG calculation methodology, which does influence potential bias in their system.