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.
