Norway asks wealth fund to review Israel assets after uproar

Finance Minister says review will ensure fund is not invested in companies that contribute to West Bank occupation and war in Gaza

Norway's sovereign wealth fund is based at the country's central bank in Oslo. Reuters

The Norwegian government has ordered its sovereign wealth fund to review all investments in Israel after a report about its stake in an Israeli company linked to the war in Gaza caused a public outcry.

Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who oversees the $1.9 trillion wealth fund, told reporters in Oslo on Tuesday he “understands people are asking questions” about how closely the fund is following its ethical guidelines, which exclude companies that contribute to serious abuses of human rights, including war crimes.

The former head of Nato said he will ask the fund and its external ethics adviser for a “renewed review into the fund’s investments in Israeli companies”.

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"The purpose is to ensure that the fund is not invested in companies that contribute to the illegal occupation of the West Bank and the war in Gaza," he said in a statement.

The fund's investment in Bet Shemesh Engines is worrying, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told broadcaster NRK. "We must get clarification on this because reading about it makes me uneasy," he said.

A report in Aftenposten said Norway’s wealth fund had holdings in the company, which the newspaper said is servicing fighter jets used in the attacks in Gaza.

Pressure on the fund — the world’s largest — from activists and members of parliament has grown steadily since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas in October 2023. Officially known as the Norges Bank Investment Management, the fund holds about 1.5 per cent of all listed equities globally.

It sold its stakes in an Israeli energy company and a telecoms group in the past year, and its ethics council has said it is reviewing whether to recommend divesting holdings in five banks. It owns stakes in 8,700 companies worldwide, and as of the end of last year, the investments in 65 Israeli companies totalled about $2.1 billion.

The fund, which has previously excluded companies due to their links to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, started investing in Bet Shemesh Engines in 2023. It increased its holdings to 2.1 per cent in 2024 from 1.3 per cent in 2023, according to NBIM figures.

In May, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions voted unanimously to adopt a resolution to boycott Israel and calling on the Norwegian government to divest funds from companies that support the country.