Human rights group blasts Israeli banks for settlement expansion

FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2012 file photo, a Jewish settler looks at the West bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, from the E-1 area on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem. A leading rights group is accusing Israeli banks of contributing to the expansion of Jewish West Bank settlements by providing loans and mortgages for construction there. In the report, released Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, Human Rights Watch called on Israeli banks to extricate themselves from the settlements or face possible action from shareholders. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File) FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2012 file photo, a Jewish settler looks at the West bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, from the E-1 area on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem. A leading rights group is accusing Israeli banks of contributing to the expansion of Jewish West Bank settlements by providing loans and mortgages for construction there. In the report, released Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, Human Rights Watch called on Israeli banks to extricate themselves from the settlements or face possible action from shareholders. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

By Associated Press September 13, 2017 4 min read

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli banks are contributing to the proliferation of West Bank settlements by providing loans and mortgages for construction there, violating their human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said in a report Wednesday.

The report said that Israeli law does not require banks to provide such services to the settlements, and urged them to distance themselves from such activities. It also urged the banks’ shareholders to “ensure that their business relationships do not contribute to or benefit from” human rights violations.

Human Rights Watch says the banks have helped the expansion of the West Bank settlements, which are now home to some 400,000 Israelis.

Sari Bashi, the group’s Israel and Palestine advocacy director, said the banks should abide by the U.N. guiding principles on business and human rights, a set of non-binding guidelines meant to address and remedy abuses committed in business activity, or else face action by shareholders.

“There are many, many steps banks can and should take to at the very least reduce their involvement in settlements, if not stop it entirely,” she said. “If they choose not to take steps, institutional investors who care about their own human rights activity should take action.”