Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has decided to divest from Israel’s Paz Retail and Energy because it owns and operates infrastructure supplying fuel to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
It marks the second divestment after the fund’s ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, adopted a tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses in August that aid Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The fund, the world’s largest, owns 1.5 percent of listed shares across 9,000 companies globally. Worth $1.8 trillion, the Norwegian fund has been an international leader in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment field.
“By operating infrastructure for the supply of fuel to the Israeli settlements on the West Bank, Paz is contributing to their perpetuation,” the Council on Ethics said in its recommendation to divest.
“The settlements have been established in violation of international law, and their perpetuation constitutes an ongoing violation thereof.”
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It comes after a similar decision was made in December to sell all shares in Israel’s largest telecoms group, Bezeq, over its involvement in the occupied territories.
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik has denounced Israel’s ongoing siege on Gaza as “unconscionable and deeply illegal”.
Norway is among 147 states that have recognised Palestinian statehood.
In April, a year after Norway’s recognition, Kravik announced the formal establishment of diplomatic relations with Palestine, with the appointment of Palestinian ambassador Marie Antoinette Sedin.
In addition to initiating the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case on Israel’s humanitarian obligations under international law, Norway is leading an international coalition for the two-state solution, along with Saudi Arabia and the European Union, Kravik told Middle East Eye.
A UN conference on Palestinian statehood is scheduled to be held in New York from 2-4 June, based on a UN General Assembly resolution passed in December in support of the two-state solution.
