
Norway’s $2tn oil fund was a shareholder in 61 Israeli companies
Norway oil fund sells out of a fifth of Israeli firms amid fierce criticism

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund has sold out of a fifth of the Israeli companies in which it owns stakes and cut ties with Israeli fund managers as it responds to heavy public pressure on whether it is helping to finance Israel’s war in Gaza.
Norway’s $2tn oil fund was a shareholder in 61 Israeli companies at the start of this month but had sold out of 11 of them in the past week, it said on Monday afternoon. Those companies have not been sold because of their conduct but because they are not part of the reference index set by Norway’s finance ministry, meaning that the oil fund had actively chosen to invest in them. “These measures were taken in response to extraordinary circumstances.
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. In response, we will further strengthen our due diligence,” said Nicolai Tangen, the fund’s chief executive.
Politicians, public option and activists in Norway have all moved sharply against the oil fund in the past week after revelations that it was invested in several companies that are helping in Israel’s war against Hamas. Some opposition politicians as well as Knut Kjaer, the fund’s first chief executive, have called for it to exit Israel completely as anger mounts over the alleged breaches of international law the country is committing with its 22-month assault on Gaza.
Norway’s centre-left government, which faces parliamentary elections next week, had ordered the fund and the independent ethics council that advises on whether to sell out of companies to review all investments in Israel by next week. Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s finance minister, told the Financial Times he expected “further decisions” from the fund and ethics council over Israeli companies.
However, he added: “The pension fund is withdrawing from companies that are contributing to state violations of international law, but they are not withdrawing from Israeli companies just because they are Israeli.” Monday’s statement about selling out of 11 companies solves the most pressing issue as Bet Shemesh Engines, an Israeli company that maintains engines for some of the planes used to bomb Gaza, is not part of the reference index so has been sold by the fund.
The fund also said that it would no longer use local fund managers — it used three from Israel — to invest in the country but would instead bring it in-house. Still, opposition politicians and activists called on the fund to do more and review the 50 companies still in its portfolio. “It is too small. The oil fund is still heavily invested in genocide, and when the government after two years comes with a demand to tidy up, then a list of 11 Israeli companies is not enough,” said Kirsti Bergstø, leader of the Socialist Left party, a partner of the current Labour government.
Israel’s prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Israel launched its war after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, during which militants killed 1,200 people and seized 250 hostages. International pressure has mounted on Israel to end its offensive, which has devastated Gaza, triggered starvation in the strip and killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.