Norway’s large wealth fund, valued at roughly $2 trillion and managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), has become a major sticking point in the country’s election season due to its investments in Israeli companies.
After already divesting from 23 Israeli companies linked to Israel since late June, the country’s Socialist Left party is calling for a total divestment from all Israeli companies connected to what it calls “Israel’s illegal warfare.”
The growing attention has brought upon intense scrutiny of NBIM’s ethical investment regulations. This has forced the fund, which usually has remained low-profile, to grapple with the ethical and geopolitical sensitivities of the roughly 9,000 companies it invests in.
The fund’s CEO, Nicolai Tangen, told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri that this was his “worst ever crisis,” stressing that public trust is at stake, saying, “This is a serious situation because it is about trust in the fund.”
Disagreements regarding the fund’s divestments could sway the outcomes of Norway’s September election, as polls show right-wing parties are currently winning 85 seats — just one above the number needed to secure a majority in parliament.
Meanwhile, the left-wing Socialist Left said this week it would only support a future Labour government if it divested from all Israeli companies it considered involved in what it called “Israel’s illegal warfare in Gaza.”