Council / Campaigners launch petition urging SIC to pull investments out of Israel
Shetland Divest members ask to speak to councillors at Wednesday meeting
CAMPAIGNERS have roundly criticised a report which has suggested Shetland Islands Council does not need to take any action on its investments linked to the Israeli government.
Financial consultants Isio will tell councillors this week that it believes the SIC’s funds’ current exposure to Israel is just 0.1 per cent of its total assets.
The report – which the council said has cost £9,500 plus VAT to procure – was requested by councillors following a motion by Alex Armitage and Dennis Leask in October.
There has been criticism on social media over the weekend over the need for the report, and its cost to the SIC.
But campaigners for Shetland Divest have strongly criticised the report and any suggestion that the SIC should maintain any financial investment in the Israeli economy.
The group said it believed Isio’s parent company Aquiline Capital Partners had a “strategic focus on Israeli investments”, adding this was a “clear conflict of interest which undermines the credibility of the report”.
Shetland Divest has now started a petition calling for Shetland Islands Council to fully divest its investments from companies that have any commercial interest with Israel.
The group plans to present to the full SIC before its final meeting of the year on Wednesday morning, which will also consider the Isio report.
Shetland Divest say they will ask the SIC “for financial transparency and a commitment to ethical investment policies”.
Local campaigner Fred Schlomka, who is an Israeli citizen, has also written to the SIC outlining the moral case for divestment and comparing the current situation to the campaign for divestment from Apartheid South Africa.
And campaigners Talitha Lee, Zara Pennington and Schlomka have applied as well to make a deputation to Wednesday’s council meeting.
If the request is accepted by councillors, campaigners will have 10 minutes to make the case for divestment, followed by up to 10 minutes of questions by councillors.
Shetland Divest said Schlomka had been hoping to contribute live from Israel, “but the request to join by video link has been declined by the SIC”.
Isio said the SIC’s exposure to companies involved in the provision of “enabling products/supply chain” in Israel is said to be one per cent.
The investment consultants said they did not believe any immediate action was needed, but that the report does not “constitute recommendation”.
Because the SIC’s funding is invested in “pooled mandates”, fully divesting from a specific sector or region would be complex – and could cost around £1.4 million alone, it added.
You can view the petition here.
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