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Mayor of Portland, Maine, Says He Regrets Voting to Divest from Israel
(JTA) Andrew Lapin - On Sep. 4, 2024, Mark Dion, mayor of Portland, Maine, expressed full support for his city council's successful resolution to divest from companies linked to Israel. Now the mayor is taking it all back. "Upon personal reflection and following many private conversations I have had with our Jewish neighbors, I have come to the conclusion that my vote on the divestment was wrong," Dion told the council on Monday. He added that a local government has no business engaging in international matters. "I had not only failed to stay in my lane, but I went totally off the road." He called his stance "pretentious," "a serious mistake in judgment" and "a betrayal to the trust that Jewish people should expect from the mayor's office," and offered a "sincere apology" for his vote. Weeks after the resolution's passage, Portland council members said the city does not have any funds invested in the companies on its divestment target list and that "no divestment is expected to occur" as a result of the resolution.