The coalition of 25 civil society organizations in Europe, called Don’t Buy into Occupation issued a report on 12 December 2023 listing fourteen Dutch financial companies as the contributors through investments to the construction and expansion of illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. The report concluded that Western investors run a substantial risk of involvement in war crimes and systematic human rights violations by maintaining the financial relationships through loans, shares, and bonds.
Report claims that the pension or saving contributions from people are invested in illegal settlements contributing to human rights violations and thus it should be stopped now!
ING Group is the largest Dutch investor with an amount of 6.6 billion Euros, followed by ABP and PFZW. During the reported period, 776 European banks, pension funds, insurers, and asset managers jointly invested more than 280 billion Euros. This includes 51 companies from Israeli banks, and the chain of supermarkets, such as Shufersal to the companies of defense, namely Elbit Systems. In addition, the research outlines that two of the 51 companies are registered in the Netherlands, such as Booking.com (part of Booking Holdings) and CNH Industrial, a manufacturer of agricultural machinery and trucks. The research also identifies companies such as Caterpillar, Heidelberg, Materials Siemens, and Volvo. The report outlines that besides the three major Dutch companies (investors), there are other Dutch companies on the lists that invest in the illegal settlement of the West Bank, namely ABN Amro, Rabobank, Aegon (insurer), ASR Netherlands, MN Services (asset manager), Cardano Group, and Van Lanschot Kempen. In addition, the pension funds such as PFZW, PMT, PME, BpfBouw, and Detailhandel. In general, these companies invested 14.9 billion.
The report emphasizes that the Western organizations (investors) must acknowledge the importance of the responsibility towards investment.
Israel settlements in the West Bank have been frequently labeled as illegal by the UN, the EU, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the International Code of Conduct UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights urges financial institutions to prevent investing in companies that are involved in human rights violations.