Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund managing $2 trillion, has announced a historic divestment from five major Israeli banks and U.S.-based Caterpillar due to their complicity in Israel’s ongoing war crimes and human rights abuses against Palestinians.

The decision, announced late Monday, targets the First International Bank of Israel, its holding company FIBI Holdings, as well as Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, and Bank Hapoalim. In addition, NBIM will exclude Caterpillar, whose bulldozers have long been used by Israeli forces to destroy Palestinian homes and agricultural lands in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“Unacceptable Risk of Serious Human Rights Violations”

In its statement, the fund said the companies posed “an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict.”

NBIM’s ethics council was unequivocal in its assessment of Caterpillar’s role in Israel’s ongoing campaign of destruction against Palestinians: “There is no doubt that Caterpillar’s products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law,” the council declared, referring to the use of bulldozers in the demolition of Palestinian homes, schools, and farmland.

Israeli Banks Financing Illegal Settlements

The council also condemned the role of Israeli banks in entrenching occupation, stressing that they provide essential financial services for Israel’s settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank — a practice deemed illegal under international law.

By financing construction in these settlements, the banks enable and sustain one of the most visible violations of Palestinian rights: the theft of land and displacement of communities.

Growing International Backlash Against Israel

The decision is not unprecedented. Norway’s wealth fund had previously removed 17 Israeli companies from its portfolio, with a combined value of $143.3 million, over similar concerns. But the latest move is particularly significant given the scale of the institutions involved and the symbolic weight of the fund as the world’s largest investor.

It also comes as Israel faces mounting international condemnation for its genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 63,000 Palestinians since October 2023, the vast majority of them women and children. The aggression has plunged the Strip into widespread famine, destroyed schools, hospitals, and homes, and displaced millions of people.

A Signal to Global Investors

Human rights advocates hailed the move as a powerful precedent, sending a message to corporations and investors worldwide: complicity in Israel’s war crimes carries financial and reputational consequences.

For Palestinians, the decision represents a rare act of accountability by a major global player, affirming what they have long insisted — that Israel’s occupation and aggression are not merely political disputes but systematic violations of international law, sustained by corporate and financial complicity. (ILKHA)