Thiel's Palantir dumped by Norwegian investor over work for Israel

By Stefania Spezzati and Gwladys Fouche

LONDON/OSLO (Reuters) - One of the Nordic region's largest investors has sold its holdings in Palantir Technologies because of concerns that the U.S. data firm's work for Israel might put the asset manager at risk of violating international humanitarian law and human rights. 

Storebrand Asset Management disclosed this week that it had "excluded Palantir Technologies Inc. from our investments due (to) its sales of products and services to Israel for use in occupied Palestinian territories."

The investor, which manages about 1 trillion crowns ($91.53 billion) in assets, held around 262 million crowns ($24 million) in Palantir, a spokesperson told Reuters.

A representative for Palantir, based in Denver, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Storebrand said Palantir had not replied to any of its requests for information, first lodged in April. 

The data analytics firm, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, provides militaries with artificial-intelligence models.

Earlier this year, it agreed to a strategic partnership to supply technology to Israel to assist in the ongoing war in Gaza.

Palantir has previously defended its work for Israel. CEO Alex Karp said he was proud to have worked with the country following the Hamas attacks in October last year and in March told CNBC that Palantir had lost employees and that he expected to lose more over his public support for Israel.  

Storebrand's exit follows a recommendation from Norway's government in March warning businesses about engaging in economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, the asset manager said in its third-quarter investment review published on Wednesday.

The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, said in July that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories including the settlements was illegal.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected that opinion as "fundamentally wrong" and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can be reached only by negotiations.

Storebrand said its analysis indicated that Palantir provides products and services "including AI-based predictive policing systems" that support Israeli surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palantir's systems are supposed "to identify individuals who are likely to launch 'lone wolf terrorist' attacks, facilitating their arrests preemptively before the strikes that it is projected they would carry out," Storebrand said.

It added that, according to the United Nations, Israeli authorities have a history of incarcerating Palestinians without charge or trial.

A U.N. Special Rapporteur said in a 2023 report that "the occupied Palestinian territory had been transformed as a whole into a constantly surveilled open-air prison."

Israel rejected the U.N.'s findings.

In September Reuters reported that Norway's $1.7 trillion wealth fund may have to divest shares of companies that violate the fund watchdog's tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel's operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.

($1 = 10.9253 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Stefania Spezzati in London and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Matthew Lewis)