Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, has included Israel's
Hapoalim Bank on a list of companies who are ethically questionable for
investment, Israel's Walla website reported on Monday.
According to the report, the bank launched a "moral
investment plan" for investors who wish to make sure their funds are not
put to unethical use, and which includes companies who are involved in
problematic areas such as mines production and nuclear weapons manufacturing.
Estimates in Israel, the report adds, are that Hapoalim was
targeted because of its activity in the settlements.
Earlier this month, Denmark's largest bank decided to
blacklist Hapoalim because of its involvement in the funding of settlement
construction.
Danske Bank added Bank Hapoalim to its list of companies in
which the company cannot invest due to its corporate accountability rules.
In January, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance announced that
it decided to exclude Israeli firms Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus
from its Government Pension Fund Global.
According to the announcement, the Ministry of Finance
received a recommendation on November 1 from the Council of Ethics to exclude
the two companies from the fund "due to contribution to serious violations
of individual rights in war or conflict through the construction of settlements
in East Jerusalem."
Likud MK Ofir Akunis called on the German bank to reverse
its decision. "A German bank boycotts Jews? Could it be? These things have
happened before," he wrote in his Facebook account. "In light of
history, this bank better reverse its unethical decision!"
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