Israel sells $5 billion in bonds in international debt offering

Israel sells $5 billion in dollar-denominated government bonds in international markets to bring down its budget deficit and finance the costs of the war.

In the first debt sale of 2025, the Finance Ministry offered two new series of 5-year and 10-year government bonds. Demand for the debt issuance topped $23 billion, or 4.6 times the amount sold. The two notes were priced at a spread of 120 and 135 basis points, respectively, above the US government bond yield for a similar period.

“This is an important public issuance that is a testament to the financial stability of the State of Israel and the high confidence of global investors in the Israeli economy, even in a time the country faces global, security-related and local challenges,” says Finance Ministry Accountant General Yali Rothenberg. “The spreads in the debt issuance reflect the significant decrease in Israel’s risk premium.”

The sale attracted 300 investors from over 30 countries, including large institutional investors such as pension funds, insurance companies, hedge funds, financial investors and entities that hold long-term government bonds of the State of Israel. Israeli Finance Ministry officials met investors in the UK and US ahead of the bond sale, as the first stage of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in Gaza was sealed last month.

Bookrunners of the issuance were Bank of America, Citi Bank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan.