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Norway Wealth Fund Excludes Caterpillar and Five Israeli Banks
The logo of Bank Hapoalim is seen at a branch in Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 22, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Corinna Kern
Norway‘s $2 trillion wealth fund, the world’s largest, said on Monday it has divested from US construction equipment group Caterpillar and from five Israeli banking groups on ethics grounds.
The five banks are Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, First International Bank of Israel, and FIBI Holdings, the fund said in a statement.
The six groups were excluded “due to an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict,” said the fund, which is operated by Norway‘s central bank.
The companies did not immediately reply to requests for comment. The Israeli embassy in Oslo declined to comment.
Prior to its divestment, the fund held a 1.17 percent stake in Caterpillar valued at $2.1 billion as of June 30, its records showed.
The stakes in the five Israeli banks were valued at a combined $661 million, also as of June 30, according to fund data.
The news was announced when the Tel Aviv and New York stock exchanges were closed.
Shares in Caterpillar were down 0.4 percent in pre-market trading at $430.61 per share on Tuesday.
FIBI Holdings shares were up 4 percent, putting them on course for their best day since early 2024. Hapoalim’s stock was up 3.3 percent and Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, and First International Bank of Israel were between 1.8 percent and 2.8 percent better off.
Israeli shares have soared since Hamas’s attacks in October 2023. Bank Leumi has risen 120 percent since then, while the rest of the banks the wealth fund has divested from have climbed between 48 percent and 70 percent.
CATERPILLAR
The fund‘s ethics watchdog, called the Council on Ethics, said that “in the council’s assessment, there is no doubt that Caterpillar‘s products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law.”
Bulldozers manufactured by Caterpillar “were being used by Israeli authorities in the widespread unlawful destruction of Palestinian property,” it said.
The violations were taking place both in Gaza and the West Bank, the council said, adding that “the company has also not implemented any measures to prevent such use.”
“As deliveries of the relevant machinery to Israel are now set to resume, the council considers there to be an unacceptable risk that Caterpillar is contributing to serious violations of individuals’ rights in war or conflict situations.”
The council, a public body set up by the Ministry of Finance, checks that firms in the portfolio of the fund meet ethical guidelines set by Norway‘s parliament. The fund is invested in some 8,400 companies worldwide.
It makes recommendations to the board of the central bank, which has the final say. The board agreed with the council’s recommendation.
The Norwegian fund said on Aug. 18 that it would divest from six companies as part of an ongoing ethics review over the war in Gaza and developments in the West Bank, but declined at the time to name any groups until the stakes were sold.
BANKS
On the banks, the ethics watchdog initially scrutinized the Israeli banks‘ practice of underwriting Israeli settlers’ housebuilding commitments in the region.
On Monday, the council said that all the banks excluded had, “by providing financial services that are a necessary prerequisite for construction activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem … contributed to the maintenance of Israeli settlements.”
Around 700,000 Israelis live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Many settlements are adjacent to Palestinian areas, and some Israeli firms serve both Israelis and Palestinians.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.