‘Too risky’ – Norway divests from Israel, citing Gaza war concerns

A media report on Norwegian investment in an Israeli defense company sparked public backlash and government review.

By World Israel News Staff

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is pulling significant investments from Israel, citing concerns over the ongoing war in Gaza and Israeli policies in Judea and Samaria.

The move includes selling shares in numerous Israeli companies and ending ties with certain Israeli asset management firms.

At $1.9 trillion in value, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is the largest in the world and is managed by the private Norwegian firm Norges Bank Investment Management.

Announcing the decision, Norges Bank Investment Management CEO Nicolai Tangen pointed to “extraordinary circumstances,” explaining that the fund will scale back its investments in Israel.

“We are invested in companies that operate in a country at war, and conditions in the West Bank and Gaza have recently worsened. In response, we will further strengthen our due diligence,” Tangen said.

Norwegian media reports estimate that in 2024, the country’s investments in Israel totaled around $216 billion.

The fund confirmed it has holdings in 61 Israeli companies but is working to divest from 11 of them, citing an “unacceptable risk of contribution to serious norm violations associated with business operations in” Judea and Samaria.

Going forward, the fund said its investments in Israel will be limited to companies listed in its equity benchmark index.

The announcement came shortly after a report in Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten revealed that the fund had invested in an Israeli company manufacturing parts for Israeli fighter jets.

Public backlash to the revelation prompted Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to ask Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg to review the nation’s investments in Israel.

In May 2025, Norway’s Finance Ministry decided against a blanket withdrawal of all its assets in the Jewish State.

“If a company sells a generic product, which Israeli settlers buy, then this should not be sufficient to sell the fund out of the company,” a source privy to internal debates over the matter said at the time.

“But if we are speaking of specific products for, say, surveillance that are made specifically for the needs of Israeli settlers, then that is something completely different.”