US professors detected unusual trading activity on Tel Aviv and US stock exchanges before 7 October
Israeli authorities are investigating claims by US researchers that some investors may have known in advance of a Hamas plan to attack Israel on 7 October and used that information to profit from Israeli securities.
Research by law professors Robert Jackson Jr from New York University and Joshua Mitts of Columbia University found significant short-selling of shares leading up to the attacks that triggered the war.
“Days before the attack, traders appeared to anticipate the events to come,” they wrote, citing short interest in the MSCI Israel Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that “suddenly, and significantly, spiked” on 2 October based on data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
“And just before the attack, short-selling of Israeli securities on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) increased dramatically,” they wrote in their 66-page report.
