{"id":4269,"date":"2017-01-31T08:18:55","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T08:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danwatch.dk\/europes-largest-pension-funds-heavily-invested-in-illegal-israeli-settlements\/"},"modified":"2024-07-23T14:59:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T14:59:29","slug":"europes-largest-pension-funds-heavily-invested-in-illegal-israeli-settlements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danwatch.dk\/en\/europes-largest-pension-funds-heavily-invested-in-illegal-israeli-settlements\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s Largest Pension Funds Heavily Invested in Illegal Israeli Settlements"},"content":{"rendered":"

European investors have billions of euro invested in companies with activities in and around illegal Israeli settlements, according to a new investigation from Danwatch that screened the investment portfolios of Europe\u2019s top five pension fund managers.<\/p>\n

Statens pensjonsfond utland (Oljefondet) (NO), Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP (NE), Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (NE), Arbejdsmarkedets Till\u00e6gspension (DK), and Alecta Pensionsf\u00f6rs\u00e4kring (SE) have a total of \u20ac7.5 billion invested in 36 Israeli and international publicly-traded companies, most of which have long been under public scrutiny because of their activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.[INSERT_ELEMENTOR id=”8121″]Hugh Lovatt, expert on Israel and Palestine at the respected think-tank European Council on Foreign Relations, explains the problem with settlements:\u201cIsraeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal and have led to the dispossession of Palestinians and the fragmentation of Palestinian land. They infringe on Palestinian rights and exploit Palestinian natural resources.\u201dBusiness activities in and around settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are not necessarily against the law, but according to the United Nations, investors are obliged to carry out enhanced due diligence and to demonstrate that their activities do not contribute to negative effects on human rights.<\/p>\n
\n
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Overview from the European Council on Foreign Relations of the 18 EU countries (in green), which to date has published indicative warnings to citizens and businesses about the risk of legal, financial and reputational consequences of financial and economic activities in the settlements.\u00a0<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Warning from European governments<\/b><\/h4>\n

[INSERT_ELEMENTOR id=”8857″]<\/p>\n

In addition,\u00a018 European countries<\/a>\u00a0warn their citizens and businesses in no uncertain terms against undertaking financial and economic activities that could support illegal Israeli settlements.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancial transactions, investments, purchases, tenders, and other economic activities (including services like tourism) in Israeli settlements or benefiting Israeli settlements are associated with legal and economic risks due to the fact that, according to international law, the Israeli settlements are built on occupied land and are not recognised as a lawful part of Israel\u2019s territory,\u201d wrote the Danish Foreign Ministry in\u00a0a 2014 statement<\/a>\u00a0similar to statements published by other countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne should also be aware of possible violations of international humanitarian law and human rights,\u201d the statement warns and refers to\u00a0OECD Guidelines<\/a>for Multinational Enterprises<\/a>\u00a0(2011) and\u00a0United Nations Guiding Principles on Business<\/a>and Human rights<\/a>(2011).<\/p>\n

Undermining the two-state solution<\/b><\/h4>\n

In addition to the \u201cincreased risk of adverse human rights impacts\u201d, as the UN puts it, European investors are also actively undermining the official policy of the EU regarding a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n

\u201cWhen European investors finance, fund or facilitate the settlement enterprise and illegal actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, they are contributing to the undermining of the two-state solution and therefore the undermining of the EU\u2019s own foreign policy objectives. And these investments are illegal under international law \u2013 or at least very problematic \u2013 and exposes European investors to reputational, financial and legal risks,\u201d says Lovatt.Investments in companies with business activities in and around settlements tie European investors to potential violations of international humanitarian law and Palestinians\u2019 human rights.Lars Erslev Andersen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), agrees that it is problematic when companies have activities in settlements.\u201cIn my opinion, businesses that have branches or factories in the occupied Palestinian territories help to maintain the occupation and facilitate Israel\u2019s continued construction of settlements, infrastructure and security apparatus in the West Bank,\u201d Andersen tells Danwatch.[INSERT_ELEMENTOR id=”9015″]<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n

Norwegian fund biggest investor<\/b><\/h4>\n

The largest single investor by far is Statens Pensjonsfond Utland, the Government Pension Fund of Norway, with \u20ac5.2 billion out of the total \u20ac7.5 billion invested in all 36 companies on Danwatch\u2019s list.<\/p>\n

This includes \u20ac135 million in Caterpillar, which supplies bulldozers for the demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied territories; \u20ac286 million in HeidelbergCement, which has been blacklisted by several other European investors due to exploitation of Palestinian natural resources; and \u20ac1.5 billion in Siemens, which has installed traffic systems on Israeli roads in the West Bank and placed bids on projects on occupied territory with Israel Railways.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund also has \u20ac233 million in five Israeli banks financing settlement construction and operating in the West Bank in various ways: Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel Ltd, Israel Discount Bank Ltd and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd.<\/p>\n

These same banks are blacklisted by Europe\u2019s third largest pension fund Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW) (NE) which in 2014 ended several years of dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the day-to-day reality and domestic legal framework they operate in, the banks have limited to no possibilities to end their involvement in the financing of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,\u201d\u00a0wrote PFZW (formerly PGGM<\/a>) about the decision to divest from Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank and Mizrahi Tefahot because they finance settlements and operate branches on occupied territory.<\/p>\n

Danwatch asked The Norwegian Government Pension Fund specific questions about each of their investments in the 36 specific companies, but received no specific reply. Instead the fund answers in general terms about how they expect companies they invest in to strive to observe \u201cthe G20\/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the UN Global Compact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur expectations are especially relevant for companies with direct operations, supply chains or other business relationships in high-risk sectors, high-risk geographical areas, or otherwise high-risk operational environments,\u201d they explain.<\/p>\n

The Norwegian oil fund\u2019s decisions about excluding specific companies is regulated by an\u00a0independent council<\/a>\u00a0appointed by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

New \u00a0findings will be considered<\/b><\/h4>\n

Of the five largest European pension funds, Denmark\u2019s ATP is by far the smallest investor in companies on Danwatch\u2019s list, with about \u20ac1 million in total in Siemens and The Priceline Group Inc, the owner of booking.com, which facilitates hotels in a number of settlements. However, ATP\u2019s publicly available stock portfolio does not include index futures, which amounts to almost 95% of ATP\u2019s entire foreign holdings.<\/p>\n

On the two specific investments, ATP explains that Danwatch\u2019s findings includes new information not covered by their external screening partner, and that they will have to consider this before they can answer specific questions.<\/p>\n

Sweden\u2019s largest pension fund, and Europe\u2019s fifth-largest, Alecta Pensionsf\u00f6rs\u00e4kring, only has investments in one company on Danwatch\u2019s list: Volvo Group. The Swedish industrial conglomerate partly owns Merkavim, which provides armoured busses for Egged bus lines in the West Bank, where Volvo busses are also used for transport. Two Volvo-certified garages operate in the illegal industrial zones of Mishor Adumim and Atarot in the occupied West Bank. Furthermore, Volvo excavators are used by the Israeli army to demolish Palestinian houses on occupied land, as documented in\u00a0February<\/a>,\u00a0April<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0October<\/a>\u00a02016 in the Palestinian villages of Jinba, Halaweh, Um Al Kher and in the Jordan Valley. Danwatch presented these findings to Volvo Group, but received no reply.<\/p>\n

On the subject of house demolitions,\u00a0Volvo Group stated in 2011<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cVolvo neither can nor wants to take a position in international conflicts [\u2026] We regret if they are used for destructive purposes, but it does not stop us from believing that our excavators and vehicles largely play a part in making the world a little better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alecta Pensionsf\u00f6rs\u00e4kring explains to Danwatch that their due diligence is outsourced to external partner GES, and that GES confirm their knowledge about the issue and have concluded that Volvo Group\u2019s activities is not a breach against international conventions.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolvo has limited possibilities to influence how their products are used and we believe that Volvo cannot be directly linked to human rights violations,\u201d Swedish investor Alecta therefore tells Danwatch.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlecta has an active and ongoing dialogue with Volvo as well as with our external partner\u00a0GES and has so far not received any indication pointing towards an exclusion. If necessary\u00a0we will as a first priority engage further in our dialogue with Volvo to make them comply with\u00a0international law, rather than exclude them as an investment,\u201d Alecta says.<\/p>\n

Danwatch also contacted the two Dutch pension funds Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW), but received no reply.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

[INSERT_ELEMENTOR id=”20092″]<\/p>\n

[INSERT_ELEMENTOR id=”20100″]<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Europe\u2019s five largest pension funds have \u20ac7.5 billion invested in companies with business activities in and around illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. 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