Norway's largest pension fund, KLP, said on Monday it would no longer invest in 16 companies, including Alstom and Motorola, because of their links to Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Norway considers the settlements a breach of international law. The Israeli government disputes this. Israel considers the territory to be disputed with competing claims that can only be resolved via direct bilateral negotiations.
According to a statement from the pension fund, the companies, which represent the telecom, banking, energy and construction sectors, all help facilitate Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria and therefore risk being complicit in breaches of international law and against KLP's ethical guidelines.
"In KLP's assessment, there is an unacceptable risk that the excluded companies are contributing to the abuse of human rights in situations of war and conflict through their links with the Israeli settlements in the occupied [sic] West Bank," KLP said.
KLP's move follows a decision by Norway's sovereign wealth fund in May to exclude two companies linked to construction and real estate in the Palestinian territories.
A 2020 United Nations report said it had found 112 companies that have operations linked to the region.
In addition to Alstom and Motorola, the pension fund is divesting from Bezeq, Cellcom Israel, Bank Leumi, Ashtrom, Electra, Paz Oil, Bank Hapoalim, Israel Discount Bank, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, Delek Group, Energix Renewable Energies, First International Bank of Israel, Partner Communications and Altice.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
