Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Divests from Five Israeli Banks and Caterpillar over “Serious Violations” in Gaza and West Bank
Oslo (Quds News Network)- Norway’s $2 trillion wealth fund, the world’s largest, has announced that it has divested from five Israeli banking groups, as well as the US construction equipment group Caterpillar, over “serious violations” in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The five banks were excluded “due to an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict”, the fund said in a statement.
The five banks are Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank , First International Bank of Israel, and FIBI Holdings, the fund said in a statement.
The fund’s ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, said all the banks excluded had, “by providing financial services that are a necessary prerequisite for construction activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem … contributed to the maintenance of Israeli settlements”.
The Council also said: “There is no doubt that Caterpillar’s products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law.”
Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israeli settlements built on Palestinian territory seized in 1967 should end “as rapidly as possible”, as they “have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law”.
Bulldozers manufactured by Caterpillar “were being used by Israeli authorities in the widespread unlawful destruction of Palestinian property”, it said.
The violations were taking place both in Gaza and the West Bank, the council said, adding that “the company has also not implemented any measures to prevent such use”.
“As deliveries of the relevant machinery to Israel are now set to resume, the Council considers there to be an unacceptable risk that Caterpillar is contributing to serious violations of individuals’ rights in war or conflict situations,” it added.
Prior to its divestment, the fund held a 1.17% stake in Caterpillar valued at $2.1 billion as of June 30, its records showed.
The stakes in the five Israeli banks were valued at a combined $661 million, also as of June 30, according to fund data.
The Norwegian fund announced on August 18 that it would divest from six companies as part of an ongoing ethics review over the Israeli war in Gaza and violations in the West Bank, but declined at the time to name any groups until the stakes were sold.
As of August 14, the fund had some $1.86 billion invested in 38 companies listed in Israel, the fund’s operator Norges Bank Investment Management said, a reduction of 23 companies since June 30.
“More companies could be excluded,” Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.
This latest decision follows a growing trend among major European investment funds, many of which have severed ties with Israeli companies due to their involvement in the Gaza genocide or connections to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
