PSC issues legal notices to local Councils over pension funds

“Now is the time for councils to acknowledge their responsibility and fulfil their legal obligations not to aid or abet Israel’s crimes.”

Ben Jamal, Palestine Solidarity Campaign Director

By the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC)

PSC has launched a major new initiative by issuing legal notices to all councils in England and Wales that administer a LGPS fund, outlining that they are under an obligation to take steps to divest from companies enabling Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. The legal opinion written by leading lawyers sets out the duties local and central government have to prevent and end assistance to Israel’s violations of international law, and how those duties apply to investments under the LGPS.

PSC’s research released earlier this year has found that LGPS funds have invested £12.2billion in companies which further Israel’s violations of international law. This includes substantial investments in companies which are involved in the supply of technology, surveillance equipment and weapons to the Israeli military, and the construction and financing of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The legal opinion sets out that Israel is violating fundamental international law obligations that must be adhered to in all circumstances, such as the prohibition on genocide, the prohibition of racial discrimination and apartheid, and the right to self-determination. Israel’s serious breaches of fundamental norms, its violations of the Geneva Conventions, and the evidence of genocide in the Gaza Strip have consequences for the UK under international law. In this context, local councils administering a Pension Fund must take steps to divest from companies enabling or profiting from Israel’s crimes.

The urgency of this demand is increased by current developments in Israel’s war. Israel’s forced starvation of Palestinians in Gaza is being accompanied by a massive military assault on Gaza City, where 1 million people are sheltering. Israel has also recently approved a large set of illegal settlement expansions in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and it is threatening a full annexation of the West Bank, a flagrant violation of international law. The UK government has condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank but has yet to take substantive steps to oppose these plans. 

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, LGPS funds acted quickly to divest from assets linked to Russia. Campaigners expect that fund managers will follow suit in this case, given the clear consensus among human rights bodies and experts that Israel is carrying out genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

PSC Director Ben Jamal said: 

“This legal opinion puts all councils and the Secretary of State on notice: divestment from companies enabling Israel’s atrocities is not optional, it’s a legal imperative. With Israel violating all norms of, and duties under, international law through its genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and decades of oppression throughout Palestine, now is the time for councils to acknowledge their responsibility and fulfil their legal obligations not to aid or abet Israel’s crimes.

Local divestment campaigns are winning significant victories across Britain, with 17 councils committing to support divestment from companies complicit in Israel’s violations of international law. However, many councils are failing to listen to campaigners and pension fund members. We must continue to ramp up the pressure on all councils until they fulfil their obligation to end their investments in companies enabling Israel’s atrocities.”  

---

• You can follow the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky and TikTok.
• This article is taken from a press release issued by the PSC on 2/9/2025.
• If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.