Report: European banks invest billions in arms firms selling to Israel

KUWAIT, June 20 (KUNA) -- European banks and financial institutions have together invested tens of billions euros in companies that sell arms to Israel, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) 11.11.11 and FairFin said in a new report released Thursday.

For the study, NGO called FairFin, 11.11.11 and 17 other NGOs scrutinized the 25 largest arms companies in the world, which together account for some 80 percent of global arms exports, the Belgian news outlet VRT reported.
They found that six companies - Boeing, General Dynamics, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, RTX and Rolls-Royce - sold arms to Israel between 2019 and now.
The NGOs then listed the 20 European financial institutions that lent the most money to those six companies.
These are almost all banks, such as Deutsche Bank and Santander, however the list also includes the European Investment Bank, in which all EU countries are shareholders.
Loans alone account for EUR 36 billion (USD 38.6 billion), with equity and bond investments bringing the total to more than EUR 60 billion (USD 64 billion), the report mentioned.
BNP Paribas is the biggest investor. The French bank - which operates in Belgium as BNP Paribas Fortis lent EUR 5.7 billion (USD 6 billion) to four of the six companies.
"The evidence of Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity is piling up, but arms companies and their financiers stubbornly look the other way and a much-needed arms embargo continues to fail," said Willem Staes of NGO11.11.11, adding "The government must intervene and stop these bloody investments." (end) lr.