HRF Forces EU Bank to Face Its Complicity in Israeli War Crimes

Brussels- 4 November 2025

On 20 June 2025, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) filed a formal complaint with the European Investment Bank’s Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM), urging immediate action to suspend and investigate the EIB’s ongoing financial cooperation with Israeli institutions blacklisted by the United Nations for their involvement in illegal settlements. These investments, amounting to over €1 billion, include support for Bank Leumi, Electra, and other entities named in the UN’s 2020 database for facilitating and profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise — a core component of the apartheid regime imposed on the Palestinian people.

We are now pleased to announce that this complaint has progressed to the formal assessment phase within the EIB-CM. This development is not merely procedural — it is a political and legal milestone, signaling that a European institution is being forced to reckon with its complicity in grave breaches of international law.

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This is a turning point," said Dyab Abou Jahjah, General Director of HRF. "For the first time, a European institution must account for how its public funds are fueling Israel’s apartheid system. The era of silence and denial is over.

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The Four Implicated Projects: Billions for Apartheid

The complaint outlines four major projects funded by the EIB that channel public European funds to institutions complicit in illegal settlement activity — specifically Bank Leumi and Electra, both listed in the UN’s 2020 database for aiding and profiting from settlement expansion.

These include:

• A €500 million loan facility to support Israeli SMEs and green transition efforts, disbursed through Bank Leumi, which finances construction and municipal services in illegal settlements;
• Two €250 million projects for infrastructure and financial inclusion, again channeled through Bank Leumi and used to fund entities active in occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Syrian Golan;
• An €11 million EIB guarantee to secure a €96 million loan portfolio that benefits Israeli businesses operating in and servicing illegal settlements.

By any standard, this is not “neutral development aid.” These are strategic, large-scale investments into a system of land theft, segregation, and structural violence against Palestinians — all in breach of international law.

A Unique Win in the Fight Against Complicity

The admissibility of the Hind Rajab Foundation’s complaint is an important development. It signals that the EIB can no longer claim ignorance or hide behind bureaucratic opacity while it actively finances institutions complicit in occupation and apartheid.

This is one of the first legal actions within the European Union that directly challenges the financial complicity of an EU institution in Israeli war crimes. It breaks new ground in holding third-party enablers — not just Israel — accountable under international law.

The EIB Complaints Mechanism’s decision to move the case into formal assessment means that the Bank must now formally examine whether its financial operations with Bank Leumi, Electra, and other blacklisted entities violate its own standards, EU law, and international obligations stemming from the ICJ’s advisory opinion.

This is a pivotal moment — both legally and politically. It forces the EIB to choose between:

• Aligning its operations with international law, or
• Continuing to fund institutions that uphold a violent regime of colonization and apartheid.

The Broader Context: A European Reckoning

This development comes as EU Member States are reviewing the EU–Israel Association Agreement, a treaty that ties Israel’s preferential trade access to its respect for human rights and international law. The timing could not be more critical.

The EIB’s financial entanglement with UN-blacklisted institutions exposes a wider hypocrisy:

How can the EU claim to uphold human rights when its own investment bank is financing ethnic cleansing and apartheid?

This case forces the EU to confront a long-ignored truth: complicity is not limited to those who pull the trigger or issue the orders — it extends to those who sign the contracts, approve the loans, and move the money.

As UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese stated in her latest report:

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“Without the active involvement of third parties — including states, corporations, and financial institutions — the machinery of Israeli apartheid could not function.”

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Our Demands

The Hind Rajab Foundation calls on:

• The EIB to suspend all partnerships with blacklisted Israeli companies immediately and to conduct a transparent compliance review in line with the ICJ ruling.
• The European Union and its Member States to ensure that no public funds are used to sustain apartheid or settlement expansion, and to revise all trade and investment relations accordingly.
• European civil society, legal experts, and institutions to amplify the demand for accountability and join in legal, financial, and political pressure to dismantle the infrastructure of occupation.

This Is the Beginning

The acceptance of this complaint is not just a procedural formality — it is a crack in the wall of impunity. It is the first of what must become many legal challenges targeting the financial lifelines that keep Israeli apartheid alive.

The EIB now stands before a clear legal and moral test. Will it continue underwriting a brutal regime of domination — or will it finally align itself with the principles it claims to defend?

For Palestinians, every brick laid in a settlement is a wound. For Europe, every euro sent to support it is complicity. That complicity must end.

The Hind Rajab Foundation will continue to fight — in courtrooms, institutions, and public forums — until international law is not only spoken, but enforced.