Norway’s sovereign wealth fund reviews divesting from ‘Israel’

Oslo (QNN)- Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is reportedly reviewing its investments in ‘Israel’ and may entirely halt them over concerns about Israeli companies’ work in illegal West Bank settlements.

The move was first reported by Israel’s Channel 12 news on Thursday night.

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which has assets valued at $1.3 trillion, is considering cutting ties with Israeli companies as a result of a 2020 decision by the United Nations to issue a blacklist of more than 100 global companies that have business in illegal settlements.

The fund has explored halting investments in ‘Israel’ for months, but the idea gained momentum recently with the formation of Israel’s new far-right government, according to Israel’s Channel 12.

“Our efforts to dissuade the fund from this action will be difficult to bring to fruition in the face of the stated policies of the [new] government regarding the territories,” an anonymous Israeli official told the network.

The sovereign wealth fund, established to ensure that Norway’s petroleum revenues are enjoyed by future generations, has been a big investor in ‘Israel’.

In 2020, the Norwegian wealth fund invested $1.3 billion in 81 Israeli companies – about a third of its total Middle East investments.

In December, the fund said it would exclude from its portfolio one Israeli software and data firm that it said held “unacceptable risk” of human rights violations.

It also has a history of divesting from businesses linked to Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank. In 2020, the fund reportedly sold its holdings in two Israeli construction companies, Mivne Real Estate and Shafir Engineering, over illegal settlement construction.

Norway also announced in 2014 that the government pension fund would not invest in Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus, too, because they were involved in building in West Bank settlements. In its decision to exclude the two firms, the government cited “a serious violation of human rights in a war zone by building in settlements in East Jerusalem” based on a recommendation from its Council of Ethics.

Earlier this year, Norway decided that products made in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Eastern part of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights must be labeled with their place of origin.

In a statement announcing the move in June, the Norwegian foreign ministry noted a 2019 ruling by the European Union’s top court requiring products from these areas to be labeled as originating from an “Israeli settlement.”

“Foodstuffs originating in areas occupied by ‘Israel’ must be marked with the area from which the product comes, and that it comes from an Israeli settlement if that is the case,” the statement noted, “especially wine, olive oil, fruit, vegetables and potatoes.”