Israeli banks under fire for pro-settlement policies
Israeli banks are contributing to the proliferation of West Bank settlements by providing loans and mortgages for construction there, in breach of their human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.
A report by the group said Israeli law does not require banks to provide such services to the settlements and urged them to distance themselves from such activities.
It also urged the banks’ shareholders to “ensure that their business relationships do not contribute to or benefit from” human rights offences.
HRW said the banks have helped the expansion of West Bank settlements, which are now home to about 400,000 Israelis.
Sari Bashi, the group’s Israel and Palestine advocacy director, said the banks should abide by the UN guiding principles on business and human rights, a set of non-binding guidelines meant to address and remedy abuses committed in business activity, or face action by shareholders.
“There are many, many steps banks can and should take to at the very least reduce their involvement in settlements, if not stop it entirely,” she said.
“If they choose not to take steps, institutional investors who care about their own human rights activity should take action.”
Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Israel has since annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognised internationally, and it withdrew from Gaza only in 2005.
Most of the international community considers settlements illegal and an obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel disputes this, saying the fate of the settlements must be resolved through negotiations with the Palestinians.
Israel’s banks lend money to homebuyers, settlement councils or to companies carrying out construction in the West Bank. Most also have branches in settlements.
Israeli law requires banks to accept settlers as customers, meaning they cannot refuse to open accounts for them. But a legal analysis by HRW of Israeli banking laws concluded that banks are not obliged to provide financial backing for construction in the West Bank.
“It is Human Rights Watch’s assessment that banks can, under domestic law, avoid providing many services that support settlements and settlement activity, and that doing so is necessary to fulfil their human rights responsibilities,” the report said.
The group presented a warning to Israel’s banking sector: Operating in the settlements risks inviting divestment from ethically minded shareholders. Ms Bashi cited a move by the pension fund for the United Methodist Church last year that blocked five Israeli banks from its investment portfolio, saying they profited from rights abuses.
HRW said the five largest banks in Israel did not respond to questions about whether they adhere to the UN guiding principles.
Four of the country’s biggest banks are members of the UN Global Compact, a group of companies that calls on its members to “make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses”.
Settlements have grown rapidly over the decades, providing a lucrative market for bank loans and mortgages and an incentive for the banks to continue to offer funding.
HRW previously issued a report claiming businesses operating in the settlements contribute to Israel’s human rights offences and has called on them to cease their activities there.