Areb Ullah
Middle East Eye / August 22, 2024
French insurance company withdrew its investments from five Israeli banks after sustained campaign by pro-Palestine activists, report by campaign group Eko claims.
The French insurance giant Axa has reportedly withdrawn $20m worth of investments in three Israeli banks which the United Nations has accused of supporting illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, a global advocacy organization has claimed.
Campaign group Eko published a report on Wednesday that said Axa had engaged in a “clear, fast, and intentional divestment” from Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, and Israel Discount Bank; selling off 2.5 million shares, worth $20.4m, between 30 September 2023 and 24 June 2024 after a sustained campaign by pro-Palestine activists.
The report also claimed that Axa had not reinvested in the First International Bank of Israel or Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank since at least 31 December 2022.
These two banks were previously targeted by Eko in a 2019 report on Axa’s alleged financial complicity in Israeli war crimes.
In its report, Eko said that while Axa still had “trace amounts” of investments in Bank Leumi, it attributed this “residual amount to reporting and internal accounting still to be done and considers this a full divestment”.
In 2016, the United Nations established a database of companies working in illegal Israeli settlements and listed all five banks as providing services to Israelis that help support and maintain unlawful settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In its report, Eko also claimed that Axa had fully divested from the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems in 2019.
Elbit, which is traded on both the Israeli stock exchange and the US Nasdaq, has faced renewed criticism over its drones being used in military operations in the occupied territories.
Japanese trading giant Itochu cut ties with Elbit earlier this year in response to an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that Israel may be committing genocide in Gaza.
Daphne Cronin, a senior campaigner at corporate accountability group Eko, praised the divestments but said Axa was still “not off the hook.”
“This win is a testament to public pressure and what happens when people mobilise against financial actors complicit in Israeli war crimes,” Cronin, who led Eko’s campaign against Axa, told Middle East Eye.
“We hope this sends a signal to other financial actors that funding Israeli apartheid and war crimes is not a good investment. Axa still has investments in arms companies and we will continue to investigate them.”
Based in the city of Haifa, Elbit produces at least 85 percent of the drones and land-based equipment used by the Israeli army.
The company’s weapons have reportedly been used in Gaza since 7 October and are also reported to have been used in the occupied West Bank and southern Lebanon.
Fiona Ben Chekroun, the Europe Coordinator for the Palestinian-led BDS movement, said in a statement that “the confirmation of Axa’s divestment from all Israeli banks and Elbit Systems is a major milestone for the BDS movement and our allies, and follows years of strategic campaigning to secure and protect Palestinian human rights.
“Corporations try to make us believe that it is impossible to prevail over them, but BDS pressure works, and we will build on this win to advance our pursuit of freedom, justice and equality,” she added.
A spokesperson for Axa declined to comment on Eko’s report but directed MEE to a previous statement made by the insurance giant’s CEO Thomas Buberl who denied the company had ties with Israeli banks.
During an AGM meeting in April 2024, Buberi told an activist from Eko that Axa “does not have any investments in Israeli banks … targeted by boycott calls currently led by some activist groups against several companies.”
“I would like to strongly condemn the physical attacks suffered by our agents and employees in some countries by the group supporting the boycott of Israel.
“These acts of vandalism are unjustifiable and unjustified … Axa does not take a position on this serious geopolitical crisis. Our thoughts are with the civilian victims.”
Areeb Ullah is a journalist for Middle East Eye
