Above photo: AP.
Over Rights Abuses In Palestine.
The world’s largest sovereign fund has cited an ‘unacceptable risk’ of rights violations tied to demolitions in Gaza and illegal settlement financing in the occupied West Bank.
Norway’s $2-trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, announced on 25 August that it has dropped US-based construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar and five Israeli banks over their involvement in rights abuses in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The banks – Hapoalim, Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot, First International Bank of Israel, and FIBI Holdings – were cut after the fund’s Council on Ethics warned they posed an “unacceptable risk” of enabling serious violations.
The Council said Caterpillar’s machinery has been used by Israeli forces in “extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law” through the destruction of Palestinian property.
It noted that the firm had not taken measures to stop its equipment from being used in demolitions.
“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,” the body added.
Caterpillar has yet to respond to requests for comment.
The same review highlighted the role of Israeli banks in underwriting and financing settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
The Council said these financial services were “a necessary prerequisite” for maintaining settlements, which are illegal under international law.
Norges Bank Investment Management, which oversees the fund, had previously disclosed on 18 August that it would divest from six companies linked to Israel’s war on Gaza but delayed naming them until the stakes were sold.
The names of the excluded companies were revealed on 25 August. Earlier in August, the fund confirmed it had dropped 11 Israeli firms, following reports of its investment in Bet Shemesh Engines – a jet engine manufacturer servicing Israeli warplanes used in Gaza.
Prior to its divestment, the fund held a 1.17 percent stake in Caterpillar valued at $2.1 billion as of 30 June, according to fund data.
Fund chief Nicolai Tangen said the moves were taken under “exceptional circumstances,” citing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and deteriorating conditions in the occupied West Bank.
He said the exclusions also ease the Council on Ethics’ workload by cutting down the number of Israeli firms it must monitor.
