The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund Ethics Council – which has $ 1.9 trillion – is conducting an investigation into Israeli banks’ practices related to subscription obligations for building houses for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, in a review that may lead to withdrawing investments of up to $ 500 million.
The Norwegian Fund is one of the most prominent investment institutions that adhere to strict environmental, social and human rights standards, and is subject to the supervision of the Norwegian parliament.
However, the Ethics Council, a public body established by the Ministry of Finance, decided not to object to the fund’s investments on housing platforms such as “ARBN”, which provides rental services in settlements, according to Reuters.
This body is verifying that companies are in the wallet of the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world that adhere to the moral guidelines developed by the Norwegian parliament.
In an interview with Reuters on May 22, Council Speaker Safin Richard Branksij said that the council examines how Israeli banks provide guarantees that protect the money of Israeli settlers if the company that builds their homes collapses in the West Bank.
Other practices
He added that the council is looking at other practices, “but this is what we can see so far,” and continued: “This is well documented,” and refrained from disclosing the period that the review will take.
Branksij did not mention bank names, but the latest data showed that at the end of 2024, the fund owned shares of about 5 billion krns (500 million dollars) in the five largest Israeli banks, an increase of 62% in 12 months.
These banks have been included since 2020 in the list of companies that have relations with settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, prepared by the United Nations Mission to assess the effects of the rights of the Palestinians.
Recently, investor concerns are increasing globally against the background of the Israeli war on Gaza.
About 700,000 Israeli settlers live between 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Many settlements are adjacent to Palestinian areas.
The highest United Nations court concluded last year that Israeli settlements built on land seized in 1967 are illegal.
Housing rents
In the middle of 2024, the Ethics Council began a new review of the investments related to the West Bank and Gaza.
The fund examined 65 companies, but it was only recommended to exit from the Baz fuel stations chain and the Bizak telecommunications company, which led to the sale of its shares in them.
The Council also examined some multinationals to see if their activities in the West Bank are compatible with its guidelines.
It was housing platforms that included the Air BNB and Bokeing.com, Treb Advisor and Expeedia, whose names were received in the United Nations list, and represented about 3 billion dollars in the fund’s investments.
Last May, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund announced that it had abandoned all its investments in the Israeli Baz Company for Retail and Energy, due to its possession and operation of the infrastructure that supplies Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Last December, the Fund withdrew its investments from the Israeli company “Beesk” for communications, after its ethics board adopted last August an explanatory explanation for the criteria of moral behavior, especially companies involved in supporting Israel’s activities in the occupied territories.