The billions of investments are collected in the report Don’t Buy Into Occupation, released today. Of the Dutch financial institutions in the report, ING emerges as the largest investor in companies involved in the illegal settlements, with nearly 7.8 billion euros1, followed by pension funds ABP and PFZW.
ING invests nearly 7.8 billion
The report shows that between January 2021 and September 2024, Dutch financial institutions had 20.2 billion euros in investments in companies operating in, or having business relations with, illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. All amounts in the report are the total amounts invested in the companies. In addition to the institutions already mentioned, pension funds PMT, PME, Pensioenfonds Detailhandel, BPFBouw, Pensioenfonds Rail & OV, Pensioenfonds Vervoer and BPL Pensioen; insurers ASR, Achmea and Aegon, asset managers Cardano, Van Lanschot Kempen and MN Services and banks ABN Amro and Rabobank appear in the report.
‘Banks, pension funds and insurers must stop investing in companies operating in occupied territory. It cannot be the intention that people’s pension or savings are invested in companies that contribute to serious violations of international law’
Thomas van Gool, Israël-Palestina expert
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law. The International Court of Justice reaffirmed this on July 19 of this year, stressing that the occupation must end as soon as possible. Numerous human rights are violated in the construction and expansion of the settlements: Palestinians are driven off their land, their homes are demolished and they face severe discrimination and violence. In recent years, illegal settlement construction and violence against Palestinians has increased dramatically. Companies that supply demolition machinery and building materials, build roads and other infrastructure, or provide mortgages to settlers are major contributors to settlements.
A notorious example of the role international companies play in this is the U.S.-based Caterpillar, which manufactures bulldozers, among other things. For years, the company has supplied bulldozers to the Israeli army, which uses the bulldozers to demolish Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Since last October, Israel has also been deploying them in attacks in Gaza. Recently, therefore, Norway’s second-largest pension fund, KLP, withdrew from Caterpillar. However, Dutch financial institutions still have €1.8 billion worth of investments in Caterpillar.
The Don’t Buy Into Occupation report has been published annually since 2021. This year’s survey shows that a number of financial institutions no longer have investments in certain companies operating in the occupied territories. For example, the website PensionPro already reported last month that PFZW is no longer invested in Israeli companies. Several financial institutions also indicate that they have entered into discussions with the companies in question. To ensure that no more investments are made in these companies in the future, it is especially important that financial institutions establish policies that make it clear that they do not extend credit and do not invest in companies that contribute to occupation, including the construction and maintenance of illegal settlements.
‘That a number of institutions have scaled back their investments is an important step forward, but it is not enough,’ says Thomas van Gool, ‘There are many more companies that are clearly contributing to serious human rights violations in the occupied territories. These violations have been going on for decades and the violence is only increasing. Financial institutions really need to take action now and make sure they exit companies that contribute to human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
1The amounts mentioned in the report are the amounts invested in the companies in total. They are not amounts invested specifically in the illegally occupied territories. For example, ING lent USD 434 million to Heidelberg Materials: this is the total of loans to the corporate group. Heidelberg Materials or a part of this company has activities (among others) in the illegally occupied territories. The fact that these are general loans to the company as a whole makes no difference according to the UN and OECD international guidelines on business and human rights. ING’s responsibility to take action and not (continue to) invest in companies that contribute to human rights violations is the same.
