��������

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron strongly rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent criticism over rising antisemitism in France and warned the issue should not be “weaponized,” in a letter to the Israeli leader published Tuesday.
Rows have broken out about an increase in antisemitic acts and hate crimes in France as international tensions mount over the conflict in Gaza.
“Accusations of inaction in the face of a scourge that we are fighting with everything in our power are unacceptable and are an offense to France as a whole,” Macron wrote to Netanyahu, in a letter published in several newspapers.
“The fight against antisemitism must not be weaponized and will not fuel any discord between Israel and France.”
Israel has been under mounting pressure to wrap up its campaign in Gaza, where the war has created a humanitarian crisis and devastated much of the territory, and to bring home Israeli hostages held there.
“I solemnly appeal to you to end the desperate race of a murderous and illegal permanent war in Gaza, causing indignity for your country and placing your people in a deadlock,” Macron wrote, in Tuesday’s letter.
In a letter sent in mid-August, Netanyahu had complained that Macron’s promise that France would recognize a Palestinian state was fueling antisemitism.
Macron had announced that France would formally recognize a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September.
In his letter to Macron, Netanyahu alleged that antisemitism had “surged” in France following the announcement.
“Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement,” of the Hamas militants that Israel is fighting in Gaza, the Israeli leader wrote.
A diplomatic row also erupted in recent days between the United States and France when Washington’s ambassador to Paris in a public letter to Macron accused France of a “lack of sufficient action” on antisemitism.
US ambassador Charles Kushner, the father of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, was ordered to report to the French foreign ministry on Monday but as Kushner was absent, the US embassy’s charge d’affaires went in his place.
France called Kushner’s allegations “unacceptable.”

OSLO: Norway’s $2 trillion wealth fund, the world’s largest, said on Monday it has divested from US construction equipment group Caterpillar and from five Israeli banking groups on ethics grounds.
The five banks are Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, First International Bank of Israel and FIBI Holdings, the fund said in a statement.
The six groups were excluded “due to an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict,” said the fund, which is operated by Norway’s central bank.
The companies did not immediately reply to requests for comment. The Israeli embassy in Oslo declined to comment.
Prior to its divestment, the fund held a 1.17 percent stake in Caterpillar valued at $2.1 billion as of June 30, its records showed.
The stakes in the five Israeli banks were valued at a combined $661 million, also as of June 30, according to fund data. The news was announced when the Tel Aviv and New York stock exchanges were closed.
Shares in Caterpillar were down 0.4 percent in pre-market trading at $430.61 per share on Tuesday.
FIBI Holdings shares were up 4 percent, putting them on course for their best day since early 2024. Hapoalim’s stock was up 3.3 percent and Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, and First International Bank of Israel were between 1.8 percent and 2.8 percent better off.
Israeli shares have soared since Hamas’ attacks in October 2023. Bank Leumi has risen 120 percent since then, while the rest of the banks the wealth fund has divested from have climbed between 48 percent and 70 percent.
Caterpillar
The fund’s ethics watchdog, called the Council on Ethics, said that “in the council’s assessment, there is no doubt that Caterpillar’s products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law.”
Bulldozers manufactured by Caterpillar “were being used by Israeli authorities in the widespread unlawful destruction of Palestinian property,” it said.
The violations were taking place both in Gaza and the West Bank, the council said, adding that “the company has also not implemented any measures to pre­vent such use.”
“As deliveries of the relevant machinery to Israel are now set to resume, the council considers there to be an unacceptable risk that Caterpillar is con­tributing to serious violations of individuals’ rights in war or conflict situations.”
The council, a public body set up by the Ministry of Finance, checks that firms in the portfolio of the fund meet ethical guidelines set by Norway’s parliament. The fund is invested in some 8,400 companies worldwide.
It makes recommendations to the board of the central bank, which has the final say. The board agreed with the council’s recommendation. The Norwegian fund said on August 18 that it would divest from six companies as part of an ongoing ethics review over the war in Gaza and developments in the West Bank, but declined at the time to name any groups until the stakes were sold.
Banks

On the banks, the ethics watchdog initially scrutinized the Israeli banks’ practice of underwriting Israeli settlers’ housebuilding commitments in the region.
On Monday, the council said that all the banks excluded had, “by providing financial services that are a necessary prerequisite for construction activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem ... contributed to the maintenance of Israeli settlements.”
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Many settlements are adjacent to Palestinian areas and some Israeli firms serve both Israelis and Palestinians.
The United Nations’ top court last year found that Israeli settlements built on territory seized in 1967 were illegal, a ruling that Israel called “fundamentally wrong,” citing historical and biblical ties to the land.