UN report lists companies complicit in Israel’s ‘genocide’: Who are they?

The United Nations peculiar rapporteur connected the concern of quality rights successful the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) has released a new report mapping the corporations aiding Israel successful the displacement of Palestinians and its genocidal warfare connected Gaza, successful breach of planetary law.

Francesca Albanese’s latest report, which is scheduled to beryllium presented astatine a quality league successful Geneva connected Thursday, names 48 firm actors, including United States tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet Inc. – Google’s genitor institution – and Amazon. A database of much than 1000 firm entities was besides enactment unneurotic arsenic portion of the investigation.

“[Israel’s] forever-occupation has go the perfect investigating crushed for arms manufacturers and Big Tech – providing important proviso and demand, small oversight, and zero accountability – portion investors and backstage and nationalist institutions nett freely,” the study said.

“Companies are nary longer simply implicated successful concern – they whitethorn beryllium embedded successful an system of genocide,” it said, successful a notation to Israel’s ongoing battle connected the Gaza Strip. In an expert opinion past year, Albanese said determination were “reasonable grounds” to judge Israel was committing genocide successful the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The study stated that its findings exemplify “why Israel’s genocide continues”.

“Because it is lucrative for many,” it said.

What arms and tech companies were identified successful the report?

Israel’s procurement of F-35 combatant jets is portion of the world’s largest arms procurement programme, relying connected astatine slightest 1,600 companies crossed 8 nations. It is led by US-based Lockheed Martin, but F-35 components are constructed globally.

Italian shaper Leonardo S.p.A is listed arsenic a main contributor successful the subject sector, portion Japan’s FANUC Corporation provides robotic machinery for weapons accumulation lines.

The tech sector, meanwhile, has enabled the collection, retention and governmental usage of biometric information connected Palestinians, “supporting Israel’s discriminatory licence regime”, the study said. Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon assistance Israel “virtually government-wide entree to their unreality and AI technologies”, enhancing its information processing and surveillance capacities.

The US tech institution IBM has besides been liable for grooming subject and quality personnel, arsenic good arsenic managing the cardinal database of Israel’s Population, Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) that stores the biometric information of Palestinians, the study said.

It recovered US bundle level Palantir Technologies expanded its enactment to the Israeli subject since the commencement of the warfare connected Gaza successful October 2023. The study said determination were “reasonable grounds” to judge the institution provided automatic predictive policing exertion utilized for automated decision-making successful the battlefield, to process information and make lists of targets including done artificial quality systems similar “Lavender”, “Gospel” and “Where’s Daddy?”

What different companies are identified successful the report?

The study besides lists respective companies processing civilian technologies that service arsenic “dual-use tools” for Israel’s concern of Palestinian territory.

These see Caterpillar, Leonardo-owned Rada Electronic Industries, South Korea’s HD Hyundai and Sweden’s Volvo Group, which supply dense machinery for location demolitions and the improvement of amerciable settlements successful the West Bank.

Rental platforms Booking and Airbnb besides assistance amerciable settlements by listing properties and edifice rooms successful Israeli-occupied territory.

The study named the US’s Drummond Company and Switzerland’s Glencore arsenic the superior suppliers of ember for energy to Israel, originating chiefly from Colombia.

In the agriculture sector, Chinese Bright Dairy & Food is simply a bulk proprietor of Tnuva, Israel’s largest nutrient conglomerate, which benefits from onshore seized from Palestinians successful Israel’s amerciable outposts. Netafim, a institution providing drip irrigation exertion that is 80-percent owned by Mexico’s Orbia Advance Corporation, provides infrastructure to exploit h2o resources successful the occupied West Bank.

Treasury bonds person besides played a captious relation successful backing the ongoing warfare connected Gaza, according to the report, with immoderate of the world’s largest banks, including France’s BNP Paribas and the UK’s Barclays, listed arsenic having stepped successful to let Israel to incorporate the involvement complaint premium contempt a recognition downgrade.

Who are the main investors down these companies?

The study identified US multinational concern companies BlackRock and Vanguard arsenic the main investors down respective listed companies.

BlackRock, the world’s largest plus manager, is listed arsenic the 2nd largest organization capitalist successful Palantir (8.6 percent), Microsoft (7.8 percent), Amazon (6.6 percent), Alphabet (6.6 percent) and IBM (8.6 per cent), and the 3rd largest successful Lockheed Martin (7.2 percent) and Caterpillar (7.5 percent).

Vanguard, the world’s second-largest plus manager, is the largest organization capitalist successful Caterpillar (9.8 percent), Chevron (8.9 percent) and Palantir (9.1 percent), and the 2nd largest successful Lockheed Martin (9.2 percent) and Israeli weapons shaper Elbit Systems (2 percent).

Are companies profiting from dealing with Israel?

The study states that “colonial endeavours and their associated genocides person historically been driven and enabled by the firm sector.” Israel’s enlargement connected Palestinian onshore is 1 illustration of “colonial radical capitalism”, wherever firm entities nett from an amerciable occupation.

Since Israel launched its warfare connected Gaza successful October 2023, “entities that antecedently enabled and profited from Palestinian elimination and erasure wrong the system of occupation, alternatively of disengaging are present progressive successful the system of genocide,” the study said.

For overseas arms companies, the warfare has been a lucrative venture. Israel’s subject spending from 2023 to 2024 surged 65 percent, amounting to $46.5bn – 1 of the highest per capita worldwide.

Several entities listed connected the speech marketplace – peculiarly successful the arms, tech and infrastructure sectors – person seen their profits emergence since October 2023. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange besides roseate an unprecedented 179 percent, adding $157.9bn successful marketplace value.

Global security companies, including Allianz and AXA, invested ample sums successful shares and bonds linked to Israel’s occupation, the study said, partially arsenic superior reserves but chiefly to make returns.

Booking and Airbnb besides proceed to nett from rentals successful Israeli-occupied land. Airbnb concisely delisted properties connected amerciable settlements successful 2018 but aboriginal reverted to donating profits from specified listings to humanitarian causes, a signifier the study referred to arsenic “humanitarian-washing”.

Are backstage companies liable nether planetary law?

According to Albanese’s report, yes. Corporate entities are nether an work to debar violating quality rights done nonstop enactment oregon successful their concern partnerships.

States person the superior work to guarantee that firm entities respect quality rights and indispensable prevent, analyse and punish abuses by backstage actors. However, corporations indispensable respect quality rights adjacent if the authorities wherever they run does not.

A institution indispensable truthful measure whether activities oregon relationships passim its proviso concatenation hazard causing quality rights violations oregon contributing to them, according to the report.

The nonaccomplishment to enactment successful enactment with planetary instrumentality whitethorn effect successful transgression liability. Individual executives tin beryllium held criminally liable, including earlier planetary courts.

The study called connected companies to divest from each activities linked to Israel’s concern of Palestinian territory, which is amerciable nether planetary law.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion ruling that Israel’s continued beingness successful the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem should travel to an extremity “as rapidly arsenic possible”. In airy of this advisory opinion, the UN General Assembly demanded that Israel bring to an extremity its unlawful beingness successful the occupied Palestinian territory by September 2025.

Albanese’s study said the ICJ’s ruling “effectively qualifies the concern arsenic an enactment of aggression … Consequently, immoderate dealings that enactment oregon prolong the concern and its associated apparatus whitethorn magnitude to complicity successful an planetary transgression nether the Rome Statute.

“States indispensable not supply assistance oregon assistance oregon participate into economical oregon commercialized dealings, and indispensable instrumentality steps to forestall commercialized oregon concern relations that would assistance successful maintaining the amerciable concern created by Israel successful the oPt.”