London public pension fund reportedly investing £7bn in Israel-linked companies

A new report by a coalition of pro-Palestinian groups called "Shake the CIV" has revealed that the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV), which manages the pooled pension funds of London's borough councils, has invested over £7 billion (US$9.3 billion) in companies which "enable Israel's abuses of Palestinian human rights".

This is over a fifth of its £34.4 billion investment portfolio, which it manages on behalf of all 33 local authorities in Greater London. The £7 billion reportedly includes nearly £1 billion invested directly in weapons manufacturers.

The LCIV has invested £10 million directly in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems as well as £5.2 billion in tech firms which help Israel carry out surveillance and control of Palestinians, such as Microsoft, according to the report.

It has also invested £16.8 million in Palantir, a company which provides the Israeli army with artificial intelligence systems, whose CEO has repeatedly expressed support for the war in Gaza, the report added.

The report said that the LCIV had previously committed itself to "responsible investment" and said it had "recognised its responsibility to respect human rights".

However, the LCIV had issued a statement in July 2025, while Israel was waging horrific attacks on Gaza and starving the population, saying it would "take a neutral stance" regarding companies investing in Israel.

The report's authors contrasted this with the LCIV’s stance on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, where it immediately divested from Russian companies.

The report pointed out that the “neutral” stance allowed the LCIV to continue investing in companies complicit in genocide while absolving itself of responsibility.

The LCIV also tried to distance itself somewhat from its own investments in September 2025 by saying that around £6.5 billion of the £7 billion invested in Israel-linked companies was handled by external fund managers.

However, the report called this a "transparent attempt to pass the buck"

The external fund managers used by LCIV include J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, and Baillie Gifford, all of which had invested in Israeli and Israeli-linked companies.

The LCIV handles pension investment funds for all London boroughs, and the report’s authors say that this makes "all London's councils complicit in genocide".

"At stake here are not only the lives of millions of human beings but also local authorities’ right to make democratic decisions about financial matters. In the 1980s, many London councils made history by cutting financial ties with apartheid South Africa and recently many have divested from fossil fuels. Genocide is the crime of crimes - we have to do whatever we can to stop it," said Liam Shrivastava, a member of Lewisham Council's pension committee.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 67,000 people – mostly women and children – according to the Gaza health ministry. The true death toll, however, is believed to be much higher.

A ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump is due to take effect in the coming days but previous ceasefires have been unilaterally broken by Israel.