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OSLO: Norway’s sovereign wealth fund said Monday that it was selling its investments in 11 Israeli companies following reports it had invested in an Israeli jet engine maker even as the war in Gaza raged.
Nicolai Tangen, chief of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the fund, said the decision was 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,” Tangen said in a statement.
He said the move would reduce the number of Israeli companies the fund’s Council of Ethics needed to supervise.
Norway’s wealth fund is the biggest in the world with a value of around $1.9 trillion, with investments in more than 8,600 companies spanning the globe.
Last week, Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reported that the fund had invested in Israeli Bet Shemesh Engines Holdings, which makes parts for engines used in Israeli fighter jets.
Tangen later confirmed the reports, and said the fund had increased its stake after the Israeli offensive in Gaza began.
The revelations led Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store to ask Finance Minister and former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg for a review.
NBIM said it had investments in 61 Israeli companies at the end of the first six months of this year, 11 of which were not in its “equity benchmark index” — which is set by the finance ministry and used to gauge the wealth fund’s performance.
NBIM added that it had decided last week that “all investments in Israeli companies that are not in the equity benchmark index will be sold as soon as possible.”
Going forward, “the fund’s investments in Israel will now be limited to companies that are in the equity benchmark index,” it said.
NBIM also said that all investments in Israeli companies managed by external managers would be moved in-house, and that it was “terminating contracts with external managers in Israel.”
In addition, NBIM said the finance ministry had asked it to review “its investments in Israeli companies, and to propose new measures that it deems necessary.”
It said it initiated the review and would present its findings before an August 20 deadline.
The fund also said that it had “long paid particular attention to companies associated with war and conflict.”
“Since 2020, we have been in contact with more than 60 companies to raise this issue. Of these, 39 dialogues were related to the West Bank and Gaza,” NBIM said.
It said that monitoring of Israeli companies had been intensified in the autumn of 2024, and that “as a result, we have sold our investments in several Israeli companies.”
Speaking at a press conference later Monday, Stoltenberg said he was glad Norges Bank had “acted quickly.”
“The fund’s ethical guidelines stipulate that it shall not invest in companies that contribute to violations of international law by states,” he told reporters.
“Therefore, the pension fund should not hold shares in companies that contribute to Israel’s warfare in Gaza or the occupation of the West Bank,” he said.
Also on Monday, Norwegian pension fund KLP said it had excluded Israeli company NextVision Stabilized Systems “from its investments because the company supplies key components for military drones used in the war in Gaza.”

DHAKA: A court in Bangladesh on Monday heard cases brought by the anti-corruption organization against ex-leader Sheikh Hasina and her family, including her daughter who has served as a top UN official.
Three officials from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) read out testimonies in three separate cases over an alleged land grab of lucrative plots in a suburb of the capital Dhaka.
Hasina, 77, fled Bangladesh by helicopter on August 5, 2024, after weeks of student-led protests against her autocratic rule.
She has defied orders to return from India, including to attend her separate and ongoing trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity, over the deadly crackdown on the uprising.
Hasina has been named in six corruption cases, along with her US-based son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and her daughter Saima Wazed, who has been serving as the World Health Organization’s Southeast Asia chief in New Delhi.
“If found guilty, Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and Saima Wazed could face up to 14 years in prison,” ACC lawyer Khan Mohammad Mainul Hossain told AFP.
Wazed is on leave from the WHO and a new official has taken up a post as “officer-in-charge.”
In total, six cases have been filed of alleged corruption connected to Hasina.
Among those named in other cases, some slated to be heard later in August, are Hasina’s sister, Sheikh Rehana, and her children — including British lawmaker Tulip Siddiq.
Tulip Siddiq resigned as the UK government’s anti-corruption minister in January, denying any wrongdoing after being named in multiple probes in Bangladesh.
Siddiq’s lawyers have said the allegations against her are false.