News

Anger as value of Welsh pensioners’ money invested in firms ‘complicit in Israel’s genocide’ increases

22 Sep 2026 4 minute read

A Pro-Palestine demo in Cardiff. Photo Mark Mansfield

Martin Shipton

Campaigners who persuaded Wales’ biggest local authority to back disinvestment of its workers’ pension fund cash from companies said to be complicit in Israel’s genocide in Palestine are angry that the amount invested in such firms has actually increased by 26%.

Clive Haswell, co-chair of the Cardiff Palestine Solidarity Campaign, has written to Cllr Leonora Thompson, chair of Cardiff council’s pensions committee, raising concerns about the increase.

He said campaigners had been in dialogue with the council since November 2024 over investments in companies they regard as complicit in Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Mr Haswell said: “Nearly three years since the start of the bombing of Gaza, which killed 70,000 civilians and rendered Gaza uninhabitable, Israel’s focus is now on violently annexing the West Bank.

“In July 2025, Cardiff City Council was presented with a 1,200-signature petition regarding pension fund investments in companies complicit in Israel’s illegal actions. A motion calling for disinvestment was presented to the council and was overwhelmingly passed.”

He said evidence presented at the time put the value of investments in companies regarded by campaigners as complicit at £117m, or 3.5% of the fund.

Mr Haswell said more recent research showed that by the end of 2025 the figure had risen to £148m, or 6.7%.

He added: “I understand the pension fund disputes the total above, but it has not explained which companies deemed complicit in activities that directly support the Israeli regime’s illegal activities should be exempted.”

Mr Haswell went on to list a number of companies receiving Cardiff council pension fund money which campaigners consider to be complicit in the genocide:

Palantir, Alphabet, Check Point, Cisco and Hewlett Packard – “all supplying technology to Israel to further genocide, imprisonment and apartheid on the Palestinian population”.

Barclays – described by Mr Haswell as “the premier UK bank funding the Israeli state and the producers of arms for Israel”.

General Electric, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems – described as “all major suppliers of weapons to the Israeli regime for use against Palestinians”.

The Israeli bank Hapoalim, which Mr Haswell said “facilitates the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank”.

Mr Haswell added: “I would like to request some feedback on the execution of the motion passed by Cardiff council on July 17 2025. What is the council doing to work with the Wales Pension Partnership to ensure pensioners’ funds are not being placed in the hands of companies complicit in illegal activities?”

A spokesperson for Cardiff council said that following the motion agreed in July 2025, the authority wrote to the chairs of both the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund Committee and the Wales Pension Partnership Joint Governance Committee to ensure the issues raised by councillors were formally considered.

Exclusion policy

The council said it had continued to engage with the pension fund and the Wales Pension Partnership, which had since developed and approved an exclusion policy as part of its Responsible Investment Policy.

The spokesperson said: “The policy includes provisions relating to persistent breaches of the principles of the UN Global Compact and persistent violations of international humanitarian law. The policy is due to be implemented by the end of October.

“According to information provided to the council, any increase in the value of holdings reflects changes in market valuations rather than new investment decisions.”

The council said the administration and investment management of the pension fund had to operate within the legal and fiduciary framework governing local government pension scheme investments and that it would continue to engage with the pension fund and Wales Pension Partnership.

The Wales Pension Partnership is chaired by Plaid Cymru councillor Elin Hywel from Gwynedd council, who said: “We are committed to investing workers’ pension money ethically, and are taking steps to ensure that is the case.”

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