Barclays planned to withdraw from Israeli bond auctions: Report
Al Jazeera
UK bank wanted to quell criticism over involvement with defence firms supplying Israeli military.
Barclays had planned to withdraw from Israeli government bond auctions in response to pressure from pro-Palestinian activists calling for a boycott of the bank over its relations with the country and its defence suppliers, according to the Financial Times.
The bank, one of seven foreign lenders helping the Israeli government to sell debt, had planned to leave the market in recent weeks, but ended up reaffirming its commitment to the country, the FT reported on Wednesday.
Barclays informed Israeli officials on Tuesday that it planned to continue to work as a so-called primary dealer, operating alongside other international banks such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank.
“We appreciate the bank’s statement affirming its continued commitment to the State of Israel,” said Yali Rothenberg, Israel’s accountant general, cited in the newspaper’s report.
“It is crucial that leading global financial institutions, such as Barclays, choose to resist boycotting Israel and support its legitimate right to self-defence as a leading western democracy,” he was quoted as saying.
