John,

Israel's occupation of Palestinian land is illegal, the International Court of Justice has confirmed.

The Advisory Opinion of the UN's highest court makes clear that helping to maintain the occupation now would be illegal too. But that's exactly what our banks and pension funds are doing when they help finance Israel's arms supplies.

Even with lavish government support, Western arms manufacturers couldn’t last a day without help from financial institutions.

We know that some financiers are seriously considering their options. Norway’s biggest private pension fund cut ties to Caterpillar for its role with Israel’s army, even before the court's opinion was announced. It's time that they all took action to cut Netanyahu’s weapons supply and stop aiding and abetting Israel's illegal occupation:

Banks, insurers and pension funds: stop doing business with companies supplying arms to Israel

In Europe alone, 20 banks have provided 36.1 billion EUR in loans and underwritings to Israel’s biggest international arms suppliers in 2019-2023. A study published in June identified France’s BNP Paribas as the biggest lender to Israel’s top arms suppliers (4.7 billion EUR), followed by Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, and Barclays.

Pension funds and insurers are also named in the NGO report and by UN experts who warned that if they fail to respond now, financial institutions linked to Israel’s arms suppliers risk becoming complicit in war crimes.

Big US and Canadian banks are just as bad. New York’s Citigroup, for example, led a consortium of banks that helped the Israeli government buy its F35 jets. The bank has also invested billions more in Israel’s arms suppliers since October 2023. But they can also divest, and help end this horror.

Some may say that governments should decide this sort of thing, and bankers should just stick to their jobs and make money. Indeed, our politicians have a lot to answer for, and some of them may end up behind bars some day for their part. But bankers are people too, and with enough public pressure, they can be moved to use their power for good.

Tell the bankers: don’t do business with companies supplying arms to Israel

More than 1,000 Palestinian children underwent leg amputations between October and November 2023 alone, according to UNICEF. The numbers today would be higher still, only Israeli bombs have decimated what’s left of Gaza’s hospitals and roads.

It looks like the nightmare will never end, and cutting Israel’s arms supplies will take forever. But as Nelson Mandela said: It always seems impossible until it's done.

Let’s help bring more pressure to bear on the banks, insurers and pension funds today – whatever it takes to stop the bombs.