Norway’s parliament is set to reject a call for a blanket divestment from Israel by Oslo’s $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, Reuters reported Tuesday, even as Ireland moves forward with legislation to ban the import of goods from what it calls “illegal Israeli settlements.”
A majority in Norway’s parliamentary finance committee has agreed that the fund should only exclude companies “directly linked to violations of international law,” rather than enacting a broad boycott targeting all firms with a presence in the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, according to the report.
The decision comes amid intensified global scrutiny and growing demands—fueled in part by the ongoing Gaza conflict—for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (commonly known as the oil fund) to divest from Israeli companies and foreign corporations doing business in what many governments and legal experts consider occupied territories.
Earlier this month, the Fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, announced it had sold all its shares in Israel’s Paz Retail and Energy Ltd due to their activity in Judea, Samaria and the Golan.
Anti-Israel campaigners had urged Norway to mirror its 2022 response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when the fund swiftly divested from Russian assets.
The fund, guided by ethical criteria approved by the Norwegian parliament, has already blacklisted 11 companies for contributing to what it calls Israeli “occupation.” As of the end of last year, the fund held $2 billion across 65 Israeli companies—just 0.1% of its total holdings.
Meanwhile, the Irish government approved the drafting of a bill to prohibit imports from what it calls “Israeli settlements” — marking the first time an E.U. member has moved toward such legislation.
“The government has agreed to advance legislation prohibiting trade in goods with illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory,” a spokesperson for the foreign ministry told AFP. “It is the government’s view that this is an obligation under international law.”
In January 2018, an Irish senator introduced the “Control of Economic Activity (Occupied territories)” bill, which threatened jail time and fines for the import or sale of “settlement goods” or “settlement services.” The bill was opposed by the Irish government and stalled in parliament.
