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The Norwegian government on Tuesday said it would review its sovereign wealth fund\u2019s investment in Israel after the Scandinavian country\u2019s leading newspaper revealed that the nearly $2 trillion fund had a stake in an Israeli company aiding Israel\u2019s war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
The newspaper, Aftenposten, identified the company as the Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd (BSEL) group, which provides parts to Israeli fighter jets that are being deployed in its devastating war on Gaza.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, Israeli-induced starvation deaths have caused a global outcry, with Western countries ramping up pressure on Israel to end the war that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and ravaged Gaza \u2013 home to 2.3 million people.<\/p>\n
More than 200 people have died of starvation as Israel has obstructed the entry of humanitarian aid despite its so-called \u201ctactical pause\u201d in its nearly two years of war.<\/p>\n
So, what did Norway say, and are Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the rest of occupied Palestinian territory turning the tide of public opinion against it?<\/p>\n
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said that the investment in the Israeli firm was \u201cworrying\u201d. \u201cWe must get clarification on this because reading about it makes me uneasy,\u201d Stoere told public broadcaster NRK.<\/p>\n
Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who manages the world\u2019s largest fund, ordered the central bank to conduct a review of the fund portfolio to make sure Israeli companies aiding the occupation of the West Bank or the war in Gaza are barred from investments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe war in Gaza is contrary to international law and is causing terrible suffering, so it is understandable that questions are being raised about the fund\u2019s investments in Bet Shemesh Engines,\u201d Stoltenberg, a former NATO chief, said, referring to the growing public and political pressure.<\/p>\n
The decision came weeks after Norway\u2019s parliament rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn light of \u2026 the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the West Bank, I will today ask Norges Bank and the Council on Ethics to conduct a renewed review of the fund\u2019s investments in Israeli companies and Norges Bank\u2019s work on responsible management,\u201d Stoltenberg said. Norges Bank is Norway\u2019s central bank.<\/p>\n
The independent ethics council, which provides recommendations on which companies should be banned from the oil fund\u2019s portfolio, has since 2009 suggested excluding nine Israeli groups.<\/p>\n
Norges Bank, which manages the $1.9 trillion wealth fund, took a 1.3 percent stake in BSEL in 2023 and raised this to 2 percent by the end of 2024, holding shares worth $15m, the latest available NBIM records show.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
The fund held shares in 65 Israeli companies at the end of 2024, valued at $1.95bn, its records show.<\/p>\n
The value of its stake was more than four times higher than it was at the end of 2023, shortly after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. At least 1,139 people were killed in that attack.<\/p>\n
The sovereign fund, which owns stakes in 8,700 companies worldwide, has sold its stakes in an Israeli energy company and a telecom group in the last year, and its ethics council has said it is reviewing whether to recommend divesting holdings in five banks.<\/p>\n
In May, the sovereign fund decided to divest from Israel\u2019s Paz Retail and Energy for its involvement in supplying infrastructure and fuel to illegal Israeli settlements.<\/p>\n
In December 2024, the fund sold all its shares in the Israeli company, Bezeq, for its services provided to the illegal settlements, which are considered the biggest impediments in the realisation of a sovereign Palestinian state as part of the so-called two-state solution.<\/p>\n
Moreover, Norway\u2019s largest pension fund has decided to sever its ties with companies doing business with Israel.<\/p>\n
KLP, which manages a fund worth about $114bn, said in June that it will no longer do business with two companies \u2013 the US Oshkosh Corporation and ThyssenKrupp from Germany, which sell equipment to the Israeli military that is possibly being used in the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
According to the pension fund, it had investments worth $1.8m in Oshkosh and almost $1m in ThyssenKrupp until June 2025.<\/p>\n
Last year, KLP also divested from US-based Caterpillar, which makes bulldozers.<\/p>\n