Norway considers divesting Sovereign Wealth Fund in 'Israel'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
24 Dec 2022 18:57

In 2020, Norway invested the sum of $1.3 billion in 81 Israeli companies, which amounted to a third of the Nordic country's total investments in the Middle East.

Norway considers withdrawing SWF investments from "Israel"

Israeli Channel 12 news outlet reported on Saturday that Norway's sovereign wealth fund is considering halting its investments in apartheid "Israel" over illegal settlements of Israeli settlers in the occupied territories.

According to reports, the nordic country has been mulling over the decision for the past few months due to concerns that its investments worth about $1.3 trillion might be allocated to finance illegal Israeli settlements.

In 2020, Norway invested $1.3 billion in 81 Israeli companies, which amounted to a third of its total investments in the Middle East.

Though this is not the first time that the Norwegian wealth fund divests in "Israel" due to ethical concerns.

Some debate that this decision may be tied to a database issued by the UN in 2020 of more than one hundred blacklisted companies suspected of having connections to settlements.

The initial list included several international businesses, such as Airbnb, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor.

It also contained a number of Israeli banks, communications firms, energy, and food companies.

Earlier this year, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestine called for an updated version of the blacklist to be released.