Investigation: European, American banks finance genocide in Gaza by purchasing Israeli bonds
AMSTERDAM, Oct. 06 (YPA) – An international investigative report has exposed major European and American financial institutions for directly contributing to the funding of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
This is primarily done through the purchase of “Israeli government bonds,” which have become a direct financial tool to bankroll the ongoing genocide against over two million besieged Palestinians.
The investigation, exclusively conducted by the Dutch platform /Follow the Money/ and released on Monday, confirmed that major European and US banks and insurance companies have injected billions of dollars into these bonds since the onset of the aggression in October 2023. This action is seen as a violation of the OECD Principles concerning human rights and social responsibility.
Since 1950, when David Ben-Gurion launched the first sovereign bond campaign, “Israel” has used this method to raise funds from Jewish communities and investors globally, often under religious and political slogans. Over the decades, these bonds have morphed into a component of the military funding apparatus, used to finance the Israeli occupation army, settlements, and infrastructure in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Today, the bonds are officially marketed under slogans like: “Israel is at war: We stand with Israel,” effectively transforming the purchase of these bonds into a political stance rather than a purely financial investment.
The investigation revealed that Western financial institutions continued to fund “Israel” despite UN documentation of war crimes in Gaza. Key entities implicated include:
- Allianz (German), through its US branch PIMCO, identified as the single largest funder of Israeli bonds, holding $960 million.
- Seven major banks, including: Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and Barclays.
Between October 2023 and January 2025, these institutions’ contributions to the issuance or marketing of Israeli bonds reached approximately $19.4 billion.
According to Bloomberg, the occupation government’s debt in 2024 surpassed 250 billion shekels (about 63 billion euros) amid the ongoing war in Gaza, making the bonds an essential instrument for securing military operation funding.
The probe further demonstrated that some European pension funds, which market themselves under the banner of “ethical investment,” have purchased these Israeli bonds. This suggests that millions of Europeans are unknowingly contributing to the bombardment of Gaza through their monthly subscriptions.
The report concluded that these bonds have become a formal mechanism for mobilizing Western capital to support the occupation, simultaneously exposing a double standard: European governments condemn Russia and China for human rights violations while turning a blind eye to their own financial support for the occupation.
YPA