Overview

• The $2 trillion fund said Monday it divested from Caterpillar and removed five Israeli banking groups following recommendations from its Council on Ethics.
• The ethics council concluded Caterpillar bulldozers have been used by Israeli authorities to unlawfully destroy Palestinian property in Gaza and the West Bank and said the company had not taken steps to prevent such use.
• The banks named were Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot, First International Bank of Israel, and FIBI Holdings, which the council said provided services enabling settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
• The central bank that manages the fund cited an unacceptable risk of serious rights violations, and data show the fund held about 1.2% of Caterpillar worth 24.4 billion krone at the end of last year.
• The move follows earlier August sell-downs of Israeli-linked firms and a government-ordered review after media revelations, with the fund indicating its ethics assessments are ongoing.