Petroleum Fund invests in illegal Israeli settlements
Official Norway pushes for Israel to halt construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Meanwhile, the Norwegian Petroleum Fund owns shares in companies that profit from the business.
Externally is the official stance that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and must be stopped.
Last year, "said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store that "Israeli construction in occupied areas is one of the greatest threats to peace negotiations" between Israelis and Palestinians.
The reason for this is that the West Bank for International law is Palestinian territory .
In 2009, retired when the oil fund is also out of Elbit Systems , which contributed to the monitoring of the separation wall in the West Bank and Ministry of Finance announced in 2010 that a further two Israeli companies involved in the disputed settlements should be thrown out .
The ethical guidelines for the Government Pension Fund Global, the "Oil Fund"
The fund, according to the guidelines "ensuring that a reasonable share of the country's oil wealth" without "make investments that entail an unacceptable risk that the Fund contributing to unethical acts or omissions, such as violations of fundamental humanitarian principles, serious violations of human rights, gross corruption or severe environmental degradation. "
Source: Ministry of Finance
Still own
Several of the Israeli companies that the fund is still in will also have significant interests in the development or activities in settlements already established.
E24 has with help from the organization Who Profits? gone through the Fund's holdings list as of 31 December 2010 and found several examples:
* Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Israel Discount Bank and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank finances projects in Israeli settlements and businesses in the West Bank. The fund's stake in the banks are together worth 420 million.
* Shikun & Binui Limited has two subsidiaries, Housing and Construction and Solel Boneh, who has built part of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The fund's stake is worth 14 million.
* Elco Holding, which owns the fund shares for 4.3 million dollars, controls the company Electra, which the fund also has a direct stake of 5.5 million. Electra has again several subsidiaries that should have been involved in housing construction and other activities in the settlements.
* IDB Group Holding Corp. is an Israeli company with major interests in several businesses that facilitates the Israeli settlements, including telecommunications operator Cellcom, Air and gas company Maxima supermarket chain Shufersal. The fund's total holdings in the IDB Group and the companies directly account for more than 60 million.
In addition, the fund has a stake of 842 million in the biggest Israeli telecommunications company Bezeq, which supplies the settlements with telecommunications services.
OFFICIAL ATTITUDE: Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store has repeatedly expressed its highly critical of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which according to international law is Palestinian territory.
- Subcontracts minor
Confronted with this information shows the Ministry of Finance to the advice previously received from the Council.
Petroleum Fund's practice seems to have settled on a line where direct investments in companies that today runs the development is not acceptable, while companies that provide services or assist with the deliveries to the settlements will pass:
- The Council has assumed that the companies conducting the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the recommended excluded from the Government Pension Fund - Global (...). The Council will in its materiality assessment of companies' participation be based on what the companies actually doing: A sub-contract to a construction project could be regarded as less significant than the total contract for the project, write the Council in a letter to the Ministry of Finance.
The then Finance Minister and Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen said the 12 March 2009 to VG that SV as a party working for the Israeli companies should be excluded from the Fund.
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