Banks and similar entities such as insurance companies and other asset management companies play a central role in enabling the arms industry. They primarely do so through financing. All of Elbit’s major shareholders can be grouped into the category of insurers, asset management and banks.
This section will lay out the international law background legally condemning the complicity of financial institutions in the Genocide committed by Israel in Gaza. It will then look at the concrete ties and forms of complicity committed by the Swiss banks UBS and the Swiss National Bank as well as the multinational insurance companies Allianz and AXA.
International Law Background
Article three of the UN Convention on the Punishment and Prevention on the Crime of Genocide makes complicity in Genocide a pusnishable crime. This includes the financial ties to weapons manufacturers and other state and coorporate entities directly enabling the genocide. The fact that Israel is actively committing a genocide and some of the most attrocious war crimes in recent history is not only blatanly obvious, but also thoroughly backed up by international law: In January 2024 the ICJ ruled Israel was plausibly engaging in genocide, in may of the same year the UN report „Anatomy of a genocide“ came to similar conclusions, in September of 2024 the UN general assembly passed a resolution calling for a military embargo and trade sanctions against Israel. In her June 2024 expert legal opinion, Dr Irene Pietropaoli stated: “Banks and other financial institutions that finance companies selling arms or other military supplies to the Israeli military or that provide funds directly to the Israeli State may contribute to the commission of genocide and violations of international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), namely Gaza”.
UBS
In the first quarter of 2024, UBS increased their shares in Elbit systems by 875%. On a filing in March 2025 UBS Group AG disclosed that it holds 27,709 shares valued at 10.63 Million Dollars in Elbit, this marks an 83% increase since Febuary 2025.
Furthermore, multiple UBS subsidiaries are involved in additional financing. UBS Asset Management Americas for example holds another 2.8Million Dollars worth of Elbit shares.
Swiss National Bank
The Swiss National Bank is one of Elbit’s largest shareholders in Switzerland, holding almost 32 Million Dollars worth of shares. When ethical concerns were raised after a 2023 purchase of 17.5 billion worth of Elbit shares, the SNB responded that they would refrain from buying shares leading to massive violations of human rights. The brutality of Elbit’s human rights infringements has been obvious for a long time – this demonstrates the hypocrisy of the SNB and its dehumanisation of Palestinians.
Legally, the fact that the Swiss National Bank is largely owned by Swiss Governmental institutions and Cantons makes its shares in Elbit even more dire. Article 1 of the UN Genocide Convention lays out the obligation of states to prevent and punish genocide though all means available to them. Not only has the swiss state systematically failed throughout the last 627 days. The swiss national Bank is one of the ways through which Switzerland itsself is actively complicit.
Allianz
Allianz is a German multinational insurance company, with offices also across Switzerland. Allianz has been described as Elbit’s principle institutional shareholder, having owned almost 2% of shares at various points. Furthermore, Allianz provides employer liability insurance for Elbit UK, whether Allianz also acts as an insurer to Elbit Switzerland is not known.
Allianz trade co-owns ICIC (the Israeli Credit Insurance Company). The co-owner of ICIC Harel insurance provides a variety of services to Israeli state arms companies RAFAEL and Israel Aerospace Industries. Furthermore, it owns considerable stakes in several infrastructure and real estate companies complicit in illegal settlements. Allianz is therefore deeply complicit on multiple fronts supporting genocidal violence through financing and insuring Elbit and enabling illegal settlements through its collaboration with Harel insurance in Israel.
AXA
AXA is a french multinational insurance company, but has also become one of the largest insurers in Switzerland. AXA and it’s subsidiaries held shares in all major Israeli banks as well as considerable shares in Elbit systems. Due to the pressure exerted by several organisations, foremost BDS (the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Movement) AXA divested completely in 2024.
However, a recent report found that AXA continues to hold shares in 11 weapons manufacturers arming the Israel military during the genocide in Gaza. These companies include Rolls-Royce, GE Aerospace (formerly General Electric), Honeywell Technologies, Textron, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies), L3Harris Technologies, and BAE Systems. All of these weapons manufacturers further engage in producing „controversial weapons“ such as depleted uranium munition, nuclear and chemical weapons. BAE Systems for example notoriously supplies the IOF with white phosphorous to be used to indiscriminately attack and kill Palestinians and Lebanese people. White phosphorous is a chemical weapon, its use is therefore considered a war crime. AXA’s investments clearly go against its internal policy regarding controversial weapons and violate several OECD and UN regulation. More importantly, AXA remains directly complict in the genocidal mass slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.
Quellen:
https://aks3.eko.org/pdf/Report_AXA_Profiting_off_genocide.pdf
https://bdsmovement.net/axa-divest
https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/eslt/institutional-holdings?page=1&rows_per_page=10
https://www.srf.ch/news/dialog/anlagepolitik-der-nationalbank-israelisches-ruestungsunternehmen-verhilft-der-snb-zu-gewinn
https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/55
https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7345?utm_
https://13f.info/13f/000095012325004922-ubs-group-ag-q1-2025
https://palestinecampaign.org/psc-company/elbit