Scotiabank’s global asset fund, 1832 Asset Management, has a deadly history of complicity in Israeli genocide. A year and a half ago, it owned 5% of Israeli arms company Elbit Systems worth almost $500 million US. Then, it gradually divested some of its shares and at the end of September 2024, it was down to just $118 million. This incremental “divestment” followed activist protests that spanned the country and mobilized sectors from artists to workers to community groups. It even resulted in the Giller Prize finally dissociating itself from Scotiabank in Feb. 2025.
However, true to the nature of financial entities, the last quarter of 2024 brought the news of a shift in their strategy, as they grabbed more Elbit stock which was valued at the time of reporting to be worth $180 million US. However, Elbit share prices have been on an upward trajectory since late January of this year; it seems the ripple effects of Trump’s policies have resulted in European countries buying more of their own military equipment, as well as Morocco shamefully increasing its business with Elbit.
In February 2025, it was reported that Morocco had signed another major arms deal with Elbit. In fact, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), “Israel has become Morocco’s third-largest arms supplier, accounting for 11% of its military imports.” It was also noted that this “latest contract further strengthens Elbit Systems’ presence in Morocco and confirms Israel’s growing role as a strategic supplier to Rabat.” Back in July 2023, there were already reports that Elbit Systems was expanding its production footprint in Morocco.
As of today, Scotiabank’s investment in Elbit is worth approximately $240 million US and exceeds the dollar amount that was reported a year ago.
Although their partial divestments were noteworthy, this simply proves that we can never have faith in multinational corporations to do the ethical thing. War, death and destruction are good for the bottom line! And even though the protests temporarily affected that bottom line, Scotiabank was able to navigate its way out of the public eye and has reverted to its guiding mantra – whats good for the imperialist economy and their alleged “stockholders”!
Any funding of genocide is too much. We will not rest until Scotiabank divests completely from Israeli war crimes.
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