Four major French banks and one big insurer are financing Israeli settlements in the West Bank through links to local banks and businesses, a report by the International Federation for Human Rights says.
BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, BPCE and AXA hold shares or are otherwise involved with Israeli banks which are an “essential political tool in the creation of the settlements (and) finance construction,” according to the study.
A photo taken from the Palestinian village of Sa’ir shows the Israeli settlement of Metzad on March 15, 2017. (AFP/Hazem Bader)
The five French groups are also involved with businesses which aid the development of the settlements through the building of “housing, factories, the installation of telephone and internet connections, or surveillance equipment,” according to the study called “Dangerous Liaisons: French banks and Israeli Settlements.”
Much of the international community has raised increasing alarm over settlement expansion, saying it is eating away at prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
— AFP
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