Barclays has sold its shares in Israeli defence firm Elbit, Palestine Action says

UK-based activist group claims the responsibility for over 50 direct actions against Barclays’ branches

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate against Barclays's purchase of Tesco Bank outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London. EPA

Barclays has divested all its shares in Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer, following a year-long campaign that pressured the bank to end its involvement with the defence company, a UK-based activist group said on Thursday.

Barclays's latest filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission revealed a total sale of its holdings – 16,345 shares worth over $3.4 million – in Elbit, a company often criticised for its role in supplying the Israeli military, Palestine Action said.

The activist group has claimed responsibility for more than 50 direct actions against Barclays branches, including window smashing and painting premises red to highlight the alleged humanitarian impact of Elbit’s operations in Gaza.

“Through a focused strategy, direct action has achieved multiple successes and forced the hands of many complicit institutions,” a Palestine Action representative said on Thursday.

“We will remain committed and focused to the task at hand and target any and all institutions and businesses which enable Israel’s biggest weapons firm to maintain their genocidal operations. That means, if Barclays does reinvest into Elbit Systems in the future, Palestine Action will come knocking again.”

In a statement posted on its website, Barclays said: “We may hold shares [in Elbit] in relation to client-driven transactions, which is why we appear on the share register, but we are not investors.”

“Barclays trades in shares of listed companies in response to client instruction or demand and that may result in us holding shares. We are not making investments for Barclays and Barclays is not a shareholder or investor in Elbit Systems in that sense, and therefore cannot divest; it would be misleading to suggest otherwise,” Middle East Monitor quoted Barclays spokesperson as saying on Thursday.

Barclays accused of helping companies arming Israel

A May report found that Barclays has increased its financial ties with companies arming Israel.

“The bank now invests over £2 billion [$2.5 billion] in, and provides loans and underwriting worth £6.1 billion, to nine companies whose weapons, components and military technology are used in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians,” Palestine Solidarity Campaign revealed in its report.

PSC claimed Barclays invested £2.7mn in Elbit Systems.

In June, entertainment company Live Nation announced severing ties with Barclays, one of its major sponsors. The move came after a number of artists pulled out of multiple events to protest against the UK bank's links to companies in the defence industry that work with Israel.

Barclays signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Live Nation last year.

In May, Barclay's annual shareholders' meeting was disrupted by activists protesting against its involvement in the war in Gaza. The bank has previously said that it did not invest its own money in companies that supply weapons used by Israel in Gaza.