Our findings
Our coalition came together to investigate European companies and financial institutions that are involved in illegal Israeli settlements.
Amongst its key findings is that, between January 2019 and August 2023, 776 European financial institutions, including banks, asset managers, insurance companies, and pension funds, had financial relationships with 51 businesses that are actively involved with Israeli settlements.
During this period, $164.2 billion was provided in the form of loans and underwritings. As of August 2023, European investors also held $144.7 billion in shares and bonds of these companies.
The report findings are critical to defunding Israeli occupation by understanding which European financial institutions have financial relationships with companies that are involved in human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory.
725 European financial institutions, including banks, asset managers, insurance companies, and pension funds, had financial relationships with 50 companies involved in Israeli settlements.
Investments in weapons
In an expansion of the Don’t Buy Into Occupation-work, several partners in the coalition also looked into the top 20 European financiers in companies delivering weapons to Israel.
BNP Paribas is the largest European financier of the companies that supply arms to Israel. Since 2021 the bank has provided 5,72 billion euro in loans and bonds to these companies.
About the coalition
The “Don’t Buy into Occupation” (DBIO) coalition is a joint project between 27 Palestinian, regional and European organisations based in Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK).
The coalition aims to investigate and highlight the financial relationships between business enterprises involved in the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and European Financial Institutions (FIs).
The initiatives will advocate and campaign for these businesses and institutions to take up their responsibilities in disengaging from illegal settlements.
