Norway’s sovereign wealth fund announced on Tuesday its decision to divest from Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecom company, due to the services it provides for illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The decision followed a recommendation from the fund’s ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, citing violations of international law.
“The company, through its physical presence and provision of telecom services to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, is helping to facilitate the maintenance and expansion of these settlements, which are illegal under international law,” the Council on Ethics said in its recommendation to divest.
“By doing so the company is itself contributing to the violation of international law,” it added.
The fund’s watchdog pointed out that the Israeli company argued that it was also providing telecoms services to Palestinian areas in the West Bank, but that did not outweigh the fact that it was also providing services to illegal Israeli settlements.
The $1.8 trillion Norwegian fund has been an international leader in the environmental, social and governance investment field. It owns 1.5 percent of the world’s listed shares across 8,700 companies, and its size carries influence.
