A call for Shetland Islands Council (SIC) to pull any financial holdings out of companies linked to the Israeli Government has failed after a vote on Wednesday, 10 November.
Green councillor Alex Armitage urged the SIC to withdraw any investments linked to Israel, in a move that councillors heard could cost £1.4mn. However a motion from council depute leader Gary Robinson to note recommendations from consultants Isio – which said no action was needed – was passed in the council chamber 10 December.
Protestors from the Divest Shetland campaign group presented a petition, signed by 62 people, to the SIC at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting. They then displayed pro-Palestine placards during the debate, which lasted almost 90 minutes, while councillor Ian Scott wore a “Free Palestine” T-shirt in the chamber. The petition called on the council to fully divest from companies that have interests with Israel.
Controversial report from Isio
Councillors were presented a report from Isio, which had proved controversial before even reaching members because of its cost, estimated to be £9,500 excluding VAT. They were told the SIC’s funds’ current exposure to Israel was 0.1% of total assets, while exposure to companies involved in the provision of “enabling products/supply chain” was said to be 1%.
The report, commissioned by the council after a motion signed by elected members Alex Armitage and Dennis Leask, was passed in October. However councillor Allison Duncan said he felt it “should not have come before this council in the first place”.
Duncan called the £9,500 spend “outrageous” and said they had been “elected to look after the Shetland population”. And he asked the chamber: “Who started this war?” He said Hamas had wanted to “annihilate Israel”, and that Israel had “every right to defend itself”. “Unfortunately it’s gone too far with both sides,” he added. “We were elected to do a job for Shetland, not for Westminster or the United Nations.”
Councillor Dennis Leask however said he could not “live with myself” if he ignored the conflict and said he could not “get past the moral argument”. And councillor Scott said that though pulling investments out of Israel would be a “small gesture”, it would show that the SIC “are not going to put up with” what is happening in the country.
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Divesting from a specific region would be costly
The council hires fund managers to invest its reserves, which at the end of September were valued at £411mn, that it can draw from for spending. Because the SIC’s funding is invested in “pooled mandates”, members were told that fully divesting from a specific sector or region would be complex – and could cost around £1.4mn. That cost proved too much for Robinson, who called it an “expensive gesture”.
“We’ve spent £9,500 on this report and now we’re talking about spending millions to change fund managers,” Robinson said. “Israel might notice, but I doubt it. I think this is pie in the sky; I think this is a very expensive gesture.” He suggested that the issue was not a priority for the average Shetlander, saying that more people were contacting him about “speed bumps in King Harald Street” than the war in Gaza.
Earlier in the meeting, councillors heard deputations from Divest Shetland campaigners such as Talitha Lee, who highlighted the human cost of the conflict.
Lee said the exposure to Israel referenced in the report was around “£300 per Shetlander”. She also highlighted campaigns on divestment elsewhere which have had success, such as with the tobacco industry. “Divestment alone would not end Israel’s occupation, but the SIC can play a part in building a broader anti-genocide movement.”
She also spoke on behalf of Fred Schlomka, who founded the Green Olive Collective – an Israeli/Palestinian organisation based in Jerusalem – and has a home in Unst. His deputation said the SIC should take heed of “Israel’s crime against humanity, not the financial cost of divestment”. Schlomka said there has been “apocalyptic devastation”.
Recommendations from Isio approved
Armitage told the meeting that the atrocities in the West Bank were “supported by a majority of Israeli citizens”. He said there had been a “relatively straightforward” process of pulling investments from Russia during the start of its conflict with Ukraine. And in response to a comment by Robinson that the SIC might only be providing a paperclip to Israel, Armitage said the council should not even be providing that to the country.
He called for the SIC to move to segregated mandates and to pull its Israeli-linked investments with Baillie Gifford and BlackRock, which was backed by councillor Scott. However Robinson put forward a motion for the SIC to follow Isio’s advice and note that no action was needed. The depute political leader said it was unlikely that Israel would be able to use a paperclip as a weapon, and said: “Our investment strategy seems to be weaponised.”
His motion, to note the recommendations from Isio, was passed with 14 votes. Armitage’s amendment secured six votes.
This article was first published on 10 December by Shetland News.
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