 "Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, the operator of Norway's sovereign wealth fund, in Oslo, Norway. Reuters")
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund said on Monday that it was liquidating its assets in 11 Israeli companies, following accusations that it had invested in an Israeli jet engine maker while the war in Gaza was ongoing.
Nicolai Tangen, the chief of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which runs the fund, stated that the decision was made “in response to extraordinary circumstances”.
In a statement, Tangen, “The situation in Gaza is a serious humanitarian crisis. We are invested in companies that operate in a country at war, and conditions in the West Bank and Gaza have recently worsened.”
He stated that the decision would lower the number of Israeli firms that the fund’s Council of Ethics had to monitor.
Norway’s wealth fund, also known as the oil fund since it is funded by massive revenues from the country’s energy exports, is the world’s largest, worth over $1.9 trillion, with investment in over 8,600 companies throughout the world.
The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten revealed last week that the fund had invested in Israeli Bet Shemesh Engines Holdings, which manufactures engine parts for Israeli fighter planes.
Tangen later corroborated the claims, stating that the fund boosted its holding after the Israeli war in Gaza had started.
The revelations led Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store to ask Finance Minister and former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg for a review.
NBIM said it had investments in 61 Israeli companies at the end of the first six months of this year, 11 of which were not in its “equity benchmark index” – which is set by the finance ministry and used to gauge the wealth fund’s performance.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsNBIM added that it had decided last week that “all investments in Israeli companies that are not in the equity benchmark index will be sold as soon as possible”.
Ethical guidelines
Going forward, “the fund’s investments in Israel will now be limited to companies that are in the equity benchmark index,” it said.
NBIM also said that all investments in Israeli companies managed by external managers would be moved in-house, and that it was “terminating contracts with external managers in Israel”.
In addition, NBIM said the finance ministry had asked it to review “its investments in Israeli companies, and to propose new measures that it deems necessary”.
It said it initiated the review and would present its findings before an August 20 deadline.
The fund also said that it had “long paid particular attention to companies associated with war and conflict”.
“Since 2020, we have been in contact with more than 60 companies to raise this issue. Of these, 39 dialogues were related to the West Bank and Gaza,” NBIM said.
It said that monitoring of Israeli companies had been intensified in the autumn of 2024, and that “as a result, we have sold our investments in several Israeli companies”.
Speaking at a press conference later Monday, Stoltenberg said he was glad Norges Bank had “acted quickly”.
“The fund’s ethical guidelines stipulate that it shall not invest in companies that contribute to violations of international law by states,” he told reporters.
“Therefore, the pension fund should not hold shares in companies that contribute to Israel’s warfare in Gaza or the occupation of the West Bank,” he said.
Also on Monday, Norwegian pension fund KLP said it had excluded Israeli company NextVision Stabilized Systems “from its investments because the company supplies key components for military drones used in the war in Gaza”.