Shareholders confront Axa over investment in companies arming Israel

Middle East Eye

24-04-2025

Shareholders have confronted Axa, the French insurance giant, at its annual general meeting in Paris over investments in arms manufacturers accused of supplying Israel with weapons used in Gaza.
During the meeting, one shareholder reportedly challenged Axa executives over investments in companies whose weapons may have been used in alleged Israeli war crimes.
A report published in October by advocacy groups Eko and American Friends Service, titled Axa: Profiting Off Genocide, stated that the insurance company had invested $173.62m in 14 arms companies.
It said that more than $150m of those funds were invested in firms supplying arms used by Israel in Gaza, including Boeing and General Dynamics.
The arms companies with Axa investments reportedly supplied the bombs dropped on tents in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, a so-called safe zone, on 10 September 2024, as well as on the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp in Rafah three and a half months prior.
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According to the report, $135m of Axa's arms investments are in companies that produce depleted uranium bombs, white phosphorus and nuclear arms. Activists posit that such investments may violate Axa's own responsible investment policy, which says it excludes companies involved in 'controversial weapons'.
The shareholder action was accompanied by a protest outside the AGM, which took place in the Salle Pleyel concert hall in the French capital.
Action de militants pro-palestiniens devant l'AG des actionnaires d'AXA à Paris.
Ils demandent des comptes au groupe concernant ses investissements dans des entreprises d'armement impliquées dans des massacres par Israël à Gaza. pic.twitter.com/MQMSTK4dRj — Enzo Rabouy (@enzorabouyy) April 24, 2025
Activists played an eight minute audio piece, which mixed sounds from bombs, children's screams, helicopters and the collapse of Palestinian homes.
Footage shared online showed demonstrators, amid a heavy police presence, chanting slogans and holding a banner reading: 'Axa, don't insure Israeli apartheid.'
Several protesters held up posters with the word "Gaza" written in the font of Axa's logo. Others held manakins wrapped in a shroud, resembling dead Palestinian bodies.
There were also protests outside and inside the AGM over Axa's large investments in the fossil fuel industry.
'Benefiting from genocide'
'Not only is Axa profiting from an industry devastating both civilian populations and the planet - it is directly benefiting from an ongoing genocide,' said Leyla Larbi at Eko.
'This is not just a moral scandal - it's a legal and reputational risk. Companies and their executives can be held criminally liable for complicity in international crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Investors must choose: complicity or responsibility.'
In August, Axa reportedly withdrew $20m worth of investments in three Israeli banks that the United Nations had accused of supporting illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Eko said Axa had engaged in a "clear, fast, and intentional divestment" from Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, and Israel Discount Bank, selling off 2.5 million shares, worth $20.4m, between 30 September 2023 and 24 June 2024 after a sustained campaign by pro-Palestine activists.
The insurance company also did not reinvest in two other banks, First International Bank of Israel and Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank, which had also been accused of financial complicity in Israeli crimes.
'Axa backed down on Israeli banks thanks to public pressure,' said Fiona Ben Chekroun, of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions national committee.
'We will keep calling out investors and urging a boycott [of] Axa until the group ends all ties with weapons manufacturers complicit in Israel's genocide in Gaza.'
Last month, a report published by Boycott Bloody Insurance, a UK-based campaign group, said that five major insurance companies were complicit in Israeli crimes through its investment in defence companies.
It said that Axa, Allianz, Aviva, Zurich Insurance Group and RSA (Intact) had invested $1.7bn across 15 companies involved in Israeli 'militarism'.