https://www.jns.org/oslos-sovereign-fund-drops-israeli-firm-for-operating-in-west-bank/
Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund with more than $1.7 trillion in assets, announced on Sunday it has sold all its shares in Israel’s Paz Retail and Energy Ltd.
The fund, which invests surplus capital from Norway’s petroleum sector, quit the stock because Paz operates infrastructure for the supply of fuel to Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
“By operating infrastructure for the supply of fuel to the Israeli settlements on the West Bank, Paz is contributing to their perpetuation. The settlements have been established in violation of international law, and their perpetuation constitutes an ongoing violation thereof,” according to a May 11 statement on Norway’s Council on Ethics website.
The Council on Ethics, set up by Norway’s Ministry of Finance, gives recommendations to the Norges Bank Executive Board, which manages Government Pension Fund Global. The board bases its decisions on which companies to exclude from investment based on those recommendations.
This is the second Israeli company barred from the fund. In December 2024, the board excluded Israeli telecommunications group Bezeq, based on a recommendation by the Council of Ethics for the same reason—that it “supplies telecommunications services to businesses and private individuals in Israel and the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”
Government Pension Fund Global prides itself on operating according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing principles.