Norwegian wealth fund ends business relations with Israeli companies due to worries about operations in Gaza region
Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund Divests from 23 Israeli Companies
Norway's sovereign wealth fund, known as the Oil Fund, has sold its shares in at least 23 Israeli companies since June 2025. The decision was made in response to the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The fund, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, has been intensifying scrutiny of Israeli investments since last fall, resulting in the sale of shares in several companies. Among the companies publicly identified are Paz, Azorim, Delek Motors, El Al, Energix, eToro, Max Stock, Levinsky Engineering, Priortech, Rami Levy, REIT 1, Retailors, Sela Real Estate, Amos Luzon Group Development and Energy, Firon, Scope Metals, and Beit Shemesh Engines. The latter provides maintenance to the Israeli military, including fighter jets.
The fund has conducted an ongoing ethics review and has tightened its investment guidelines targeting companies involved in "Israeli activities in the occupied Palestinian territories." While the names of six additional companies recently divested from were not immediately disclosed, they may overlap with the already named companies. The fund has also terminated contracts with three external asset managers who handled some Israeli investments.
This divestment reflects a broader trend of European institutional investors reassessing exposure to companies implicated in the conflict and settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. The fund’s Israeli holdings have decreased from 65 firms valued at $1.95 billion by end of 2024 to fewer companies following these divestments.
Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, stated that these measures were taken in response to extraordinary circumstances and that conditions in the West Bank and Gaza have recently worsened. The sales were finalized over the past few days, but the names of the affected companies were not disclosed.
The restructuring will simplify the management of the fund's investments in Israel and reduce the number of companies monitored by the fund's ethics council. The Oil Fund is terminating contracts with external managers operating in Israel and will bring all Israeli investments under direct management.
The sales were made by Norges Bank Investment Management and were announced on Monday. As of the end of the first half of 2025, the fund held stakes in 61 Israeli companies, 11 of which have been divested from. These companies fall outside the Norwegian Finance Ministry's equity benchmark index.
The Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, has sold its shares in Israeli businesses to align with its tightened investment guidelines against companies involved in "Israeli activities in the occupied Palestinian territories," following the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This divestment, part of a broader European trend, has led to a decrease in the fund's Israeli holdings from 65 firms to fewer companies, excluding six unnamed companies that may overlap with the previously identified ones.
