Norway fund blacklists Israeli firms with settlement ties
Norway's huge sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest,
blacklisted two Israeli companies involved in construction of settlements in
East Jerusalem, the country's finance ministry said Thursday.
The ban on investing in the firms revived a three-year
prohibition on them that the Government Pension Fund of Norway had dropped in
August last year.
The companies are Africa Israel Investments, an Israeli real
estate developer, and its construction subsidiary Danya Cerbus.
The ministry cited the company's alleged "contribution
to serious violations of individual rights in war or conflict through the
construction of settlements in East Jerusalem," a territory where Israel's
claims are not recognised by the international community.
Norway's sovereign wealth fund is fed by the country's oil
surplus. It is worth an estimated $818 billion according to the SWF Institute,
a body that tracks such funds.
As well as resuming the Israeli firm blacklisting, Norway
suspended a restriction on the fund buying bonds issued in Myanmar, leaving
only North Korea, Iran and Syria on the list of countries ineligible for
investment.
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