The UN has published an updated database of 214 businesses involved in activities in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, linked to adverse impacts on human rights. As of June 2026, USS has investments in 20 of these listed companies.
The UK Foreign Secretary has stated that “The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists.” , and “We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion. So to those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this, you will face the full force of UK sanctions.”
We call upon USS to immediately divest from these 20 companies in line with the announcement of these sanctions.
1. Summary
The latest UN report on businesses supporting the illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine lists 214 businesses [1]. USS invests in 20 of these [2] – 14 Israeli, 4 US, 1 Chinese and 1 German. These “illegal settlements” do not just appear – they are preceded by campaigns of ethnic cleaning, where Palestinians are driven from their land by violence and threats, by armed settler groups and by the Israeli military. This is a deliberate strategy by Israel to extend its borders and, as the Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich states, the aim is to “bury the idea of a Palestinian State” [3].
The UK Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, in his recent statement to Parliament [4] noted that the aim is “the creation of a set of facts on the ground to make the two state solution unviable. And on top of official state policy, settler terrorism is rampant.” He said that “The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists”, adding that “We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion. So to those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this, you will face the full force of UK sanctions.”.
The UN list of business activities in the occupied territories, for the companies that USS invests in include: The supply of equipment and materials facilitating the construction and the expansion of settlements and the wall, and associated infrastructure; The supply of security services, equipment and materials to enterprises operating in settlements; The provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport; Banking and financial operations helping to develop, expand or maintain settlements and their activities, including loans for housing and the development of businesses; The use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes.
2. Examples
For some specific examples, as we have noted previously [5]:
Airbnb advertises listings in 39 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, the majority of which were mis-labelled as properties in “Israel”.
Bank Hapoalim provides financial infrastructure to various construction companies for the purpose of construction of real estate projects in settlements in the occupied West Bank and holds as collateral the company’s rights to the land and the project. The bank also provides financial support to settler groups who have attacked Palestinian communities and have blocked aid into Gaza.
Bank Leumi provides financial infrastructure to various construction companies for the purpose of construction of real estate projects in settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Booking Holdings and Expedia provide booking services for a range of hotels, guesthouses, and holiday apartments in the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlements in the illegally occupied territories, including the eastern part of Jerusalem.
Heidelberg Materials The company’s subsidiary Hanson Israel supplies building materials such as concrete to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Motorola Solutions has been involved in Israel’s illegal settlements for more than 10 years. The company designed and manufactured the surveillance system “MotoEagle”, which is used in dozens of illegal settlements in the West Bank, in the wall around Gaza and in Israeli military base. Motorola works closely with the Israeli military and defence establishment and is the sole supplier of the Israeli military’s independent cellular network and its specialised smartphone devices, which provide the military with an independent, closed and secure network to allow unique encrypted communication abilities.
Schufersal is an Israeli retail chain which operates supermarket and drugstore branches in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
3. Conclusion
To repeat what we stated in January of this year [5] – the evidence is clear that USS is investing in companies supporting Israel’s genocidal actions in Palestine and its continuing programme of ethnic cleansing and land theft. Divestment from these companies would involve no significant risk of financial detriment to USS, given its diversified portfolio. USS is ignoring the harm being done by companies they invest in and is not prepared to abide by rulings of the International Court of Justice and the UN that these investments are illegal.
Further to this, USS investments are now in clear contradiction to statements from the UK Foreign Minister announcing sanctions. USS must act now.
Divest USS October 2026
4. References
[1] Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 25 September 2026, UN Human Rights updates list of companies involved in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory
[2] As of June 2026 the companies are Airbnb Inc., Amot Investments Ltd., Bank Hapoalim Ltd., Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd., Bezeq, the Israeli Telecommunications Corp. Ltd., Booking Holdings Inc., Delek Group Ltd., Energix-Renewable Energies Ltd., Expedia Group Inc., Fosun International Ltd., Heidelberg Materials AG, Israel Discount Bank Ltd., Mega Or Holdings Ltd., Mivne Real Estate KD Ltd., Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd., Motorola Solutions, Inc., Paz Retail and Energy Ltd., Shapir Engineering and Industry Ltd., Shikun & Binui Ltd.,Shufersal Ltd.
[3] BBC News 14/8/25, Israeli settlement plans will ‘bury’ idea of Palestinian state, minister says https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgdzxpkdd7o
[4] Foreign Secretary Oral Statement on Israel-Palestine, 8th September 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/foreign-secretary-oral-statement-on-israel-palestine
[5] Divest USS, January 2026 USS and the genocide in Palestine https://divestuss.org/uss-and-the-genocide-in-palestine/