French Insurance Firm Divests From Israeli Banks
Climate and human rights activists protest outside the offices of AXA UK on February 29, 2024 in London, United Kingdom.
A major player in the French insurance industry has divested its holdings in three banks known to support the illegal occupation of the West Bank, delivering a major win to the global campaign to boycott Israeli institutions involved in human rights abuses against Palestinians.
AXA, the multi-billionaire dollar insurance company, had been the target of a years-long effort led by Ekō, an international ethical-investing advocacy organization, pressuring it to unwind its holdings in the companies. In August, Ekō published an analysis showing AXA had unwound its previous holdings in Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, and Israel Discount Bank. AXA has also not reinvested in previously held positions in Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot or First International Bank of Israel, two additional targets of the campaign.
The banks were listed in a United Nations database of companies deemed complicit in maintaining the illegal occupation of the West Bank. “Foreign businesses that invest in these banks are complicit in Israeli war crimes,” said Leili Kashani, a senior campaigner at Ekō.
Until September of last year, AXA held 2.5 million shares in the three designated banks, worth around $20.4 million. But by June of this year, the company had effectively zeroed out its holdings, Ekō found. AXA’s portfolio still includes a residual position of 16,290 shares of Bank Leumi stock. Profundo, an independent research organization which contributed to the report, attributed that holding to “reporting and internal accounting delays” and deemed the sell-offs a “full divestment.”
While the company has not directly attributed its divestment to the activist campaign, at an AXA shareholder meeting in April CEO Thomas Buberl appeared to distance himself from the company’s past investments in Israel. “AXA has no investments in Israeli banks. We have no shares in the banks targeted by the calls for boycott that certain activist groups are currently leading against several companies,” he said.
AXA did not respond to a request for comment from Drop Site News.