Norway's sovereign wealth fund is considering toughening the ethical criteria for its investments, and disinvesting from more global companies connected to Israel's war in Gaza, "Reuters" reports, according to a letter it has seen sent by the fund's Council on Ethics to Norway's Ministry of Finance on August 30.
The fund, which is one of the world's biggest investment bodies with an investment portfolio worth an estimated $1.7 trillion, has come under massive pressure in recent months from human rights organizations in Norway "to do more" in order to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinians and divest from companies connected to Israeli military activities.
According to the Norway sovereign wealth fund's Council on Ethics, it wrote in the letter seen by "Reuters," that the fund should interpret business standards in the strictest way over companies cooperating with Israeli activities over the Green Line and in Gaza.
The letter results partly from the opinion handed down by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague that Israel's occupation over the Green Line is illegal. The letter said, "The Council on Ethics believes the ethical guidelines provide a basis for excluding a few more companies from the Government Pension Fund Global in addition to those already excluded."
Although the letter did not specify which companies it is targeting, "Reuters" believes it is referring to US companies RTX Corp., General Electric and General Dynamics, which according to NGOs are providing weapons of various types to Israel. The Council for Ethics writes, "There are very few relevant companies remaining in the fund" partly because many US defense manufacturers were already barred because of their past activities.
"The pressure is just going up and up"
In the past, Norway's sovereign wealth fund has divested from a range of Israeli and international companies working over the Green Line. The fund still holds investments in 77 Israeli companies worth $1.4 billion including Israeli banks.
In recent months the fund, which has its ethical standards set by the Norwegian parliament, has come under growing political pressure from various parties, human rights organizations and unions, demanding that it completely divests its Israeli investments because of the war in Gaza. At the start of the war the fund said that it was "re-examining" investments in defense companies connected with the war in Israel but there has not been any updates since then.
The pressure is just going up and up. There is no way to do this in a way that pleases everybody. It's incredibly difficult," one Norwegian official told "The Financial Times" in May.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 4, 2024.
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