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The Norwegian government said on Tuesday it would review its sovereign wealth fund’s investments in Israel after the country’s leading newspaper revealed it had a stake in an Israeli company that provides services to Israel’s armed forces, leading to a public outcry.
The move came after Aftenposten published an investigation on Monday saying that the $1.9 trillion fund, the largest in the world, had invested in the Israeli company, Bet Shemesh Engines, which provides jet engine parts to Israeli fighter jets that are being used in its war on Gaza.
Finance minister and former head of Nato, Jens Stoltenberg, who oversees the fund, said in a statement it was understandable that questions are being raised about the fund’s investments in the Israeli company, given that the fund is not supposed to invest in companies which enable states to violate international law, Verdens Gang reported on Tuesday.
“The 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’s investments in Bet Shemesh Engines,” Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg’s statement went on to say that Norges Bank is responsible for assessing individual companies based on advice from an external ethics watchdog and guidelines set by the finance ministry.
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“In light of…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’s investments in Israeli companies and Norges Bank’s work on responsible management,” Stoltenberg said.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told public broadcaster NRK that the fund’s investment in the Israeli company was “worrying”.
“We must get clarification on this because reading about it makes me uneasy,” he added.
Pressure from pro-Palestinian activists has increased on the fund since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.
The Labour Party-led government spent months resisting pressure, with Norway’s parliament in June rejecting a proposal to divest from all Israeli military companies operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, the ethics watchdog recommended the fund divest from Israeli companies Paz Retail and Energy – because it owns and operates infrastructure that provides fuel to Israeli settlements – and Bezeq, which provides telecoms services to Israeli settlements.
Officially known as the Norges Bank Investment Management, the fund holds about 1.5 percent of all listed equities globally.
According to the Norges Bank Investment Management website, the aim of the fund is “to ensure a long-term management of revenue from Norway’s oil and gas resources, so that this wealth benefits both current and future generations”.
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