UN ADDS 61 FIRMS TO ISRAELI SETTLEMENT COMPANIES LIST

The United Nations human rights office published an updated list on Friday adding 61 companies to its database of businesses linked to activities in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, which it considers illegal. The addition brings the total number of listed companies to 214, based across 11 countries including Israel, China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom, with most firms based in Israel. According to the office's 18-page report, 126 businesses were assessed in this update, and five of the 158 companies listed the previous year were removed. Newly added firms include Israeli pesticides maker ADAMA, part of the Chinese-owned Syngenta Group, Israeli real estate investment holding company Alony Hetz, and Spain's Salvat Logistica. None of the newly listed companies immediately responded to requests for comment on their inclusion.

The UN says a company is added to the database if it is found to have engaged in at least one of ten prohibited activities, including facilitating the construction or expansion of settlements, supplying surveillance and identification equipment, providing banking services, or providing other services and utilities. The office states that a company must generally be found to have caused, contributed to, or had a direct link to adverse human rights impacts in the occupied territory. It applies a standard of "reasonable grounds to believe" a company is involved, which it says is consistent with other UN fact-finding bodies and lower than the standard required in a criminal court. Companies contacted over their inclusion are given 60 days to provide additional information, clarification or updates on their situation. The database was first published in 2020 and already included companies such as Expedia and Airbnb.

The UN human rights office notes that the database carries particular significance because it could be used by governments, investors or campaigners to inform boycott or divestment decisions aimed at pressuring Israel over settlement expansion in the West Bank, an area home to more than three million Palestinians. The office has not set out any further action beyond maintaining and periodically updating the list. Companies newly added or retained on the database can continue to submit information during the 60-day response period. No further UN statement on enforcement or consequences for listed firms was included in Friday's publication.