BlackRock, Vanguard bankroll 'genocide', illegal occupation: UN

A new report by the United Nations claims BlackRock and Vanguard are the major asset managers profiting from "sustaining the illegal Israeli occupation [of Palestinian territories] and its ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza".

UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese's report, From economy of occupation to economy of genocide, mentions nearly 50 global companies that are "implicated in human rights violations and international crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory [oPt]".

They include Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, which grant Israel "virtually government-wide access to their cloud and artificial intelligence technologies", while Palantir Technologies provides automatic predictive policing technology, core defence infrastructure for rapid and scaled-up construction and deployment of military software, and its AI platform.

Other listed companies such as Airbnb and Booking.com operate in the oPt and "profit from the occupation by selling tourism that sustains the colonies, excludes Palestinians, promotes settler narratives and legitimises annexation".

Major investors also prop up Israel's military industrial complex by investing in the likes of Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems and Caterpillar.

Albanese singled out BlackRock and Vanguard as they "rank among the largest investors in arms companies pivotal to the genocidal arsenal of Israel".

BlackRock and its subsidiary iShares and Vanguard are among the largest institutional investors in many companies, holding these shares for distribution among their indexes of mutual funds and ETFs, she said.

BlackRock is the second largest institutional investor in Palantir (8.6%), Microsoft (7.8%), Amazon (6.6%), Alphabet (6.6%) and IBM (8.6%), and third largest in Lockheed Martin (7.2%) and Caterpillar (7.5%).

Vanguard is the largest institutional investor in Caterpillar (9.8%), Chevron (8.9%) and Palantir (9.1%), and second largest in Lockheed Martin (9.2%) and Elbit Systems (2%).

"Through their asset management, they implicate universities, pension funds and ordinary people who passively invest their savings through the purchase of their funds and [ETFs]," Albanese said.

A June study from Harvard University estimated that 377,000 Palestinians are unaccounted for since October 2023.

This significantly outweighs the death toll reported in the media as provided by the Gaza Health Ministry of about 58,000.

Albanese also named BNP Paribas and Barclays as some of the major financial institutions that funded Israeli's budget that use treasury bonds and play "a critical role in funding the ongoing assault on Gaza".

"From 2022 to 2024, the Israeli military budget grew from 4.2% to 8.3% of GDP, driving the public budget into a 6.8% deficit. Israel funded this ballooning budget by increasing its bond issuance, including US$8 billion in March 2024 and US$5 billion in February 2025, alongside issuances on its domestic new shekel market," she wrote.

BlackRock (US$68m), Vanguard (US$546m) and Allianz's asset management subsidiary PIMCO ($960m) were among at least 400 investors from 36 countries who purchased them.

Commenting on the report, a Vanguard spokesperson said: "Vanguard maintains robust policies and procedures to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and sanctions in the various jurisdictions in which we operate. This includes adhering to laws that may require specific investment restrictions in companies that are sanctioned for human rights abuses."

BlackRock did not provide a comment upon request.

"While life in Gaza is being obliterated and the West Bank is under escalating assault, the present report shows why the genocide carried out by Israel continues: because it is lucrative for many," Albanese said.

"By shedding light on the political economy of an occupation turned genocidal, the report reveals how the forever-occupation has become the ideal testing ground for arms manufacturers and big tech - providing boundless supply and demand, little oversight and zero accountability - while investors and private and public institutions profit freely. Too many influential corporate entities remain inextricably financially bound to Israeli apartheid and militarism."