The University of Minnesota on Tuesday began disclosing its investments in publicly traded companies based in or doing business with Israel, including defense contractors.
Student organizers with UMN Divest, a coalition of pro-Palestinian student organizations at the University of Minnesota, provided MPR News with a copy of the one-page disclosure. The university has confirmed the accuracy of the document.
As of the end of March, the university had invested in 33 Israeli-based companies and eight U.S.-based companies that do business with the Israeli military, including defense contractors, according to a statement at the beginning of the document.
The university’s investments in Israel-based companies and U.S.-based defense companies represent only a small portion of the university’s $2.27 billion endowment, according to the document.
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“Exposure to stocks and bonds of publicly traded companies domiciled in Israel is $2.4 million (or 0.11% of the total fund), with additional exposure to other listed companies of interest of $2.6 million (or 0.12% of the total fund) %), including select U.S.-based defense contractors,” the document states.
As of the end of March, the University of Minnesota has invested in 33 Israeli-based companies and eight US-based companies that do business with the Israeli military.
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The largest investment in an Israeli company was in the semiconductor industry Nova, with about $789,000, and the largest investment in a US company was in construction company Caterpillar, which sells armored bulldozers to the Israeli military, at about $781,000.
All related investments are held “indirectly through diversified active funds and environmental, social and governance (ESG) aligned passive index funds.”
The public investment disclosure was made by Divest UMN, a coalition of four student organizations that have set up encampments on campus in recent weeks to protest Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and the resulting humanitarian crisis. That was one of the core demands.
Adam Abu is a third-year biology student at the University of Minnesota. He is a student organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine. SJP is part of Divest UMN, which calls for universities to divest from weapons manufacturers and “corporations that profit from war.”
A person holds a Palestinian flag during a student and faculty strike to protest the removal of a pro-Palestinian solidarity encampment at the University of Minnesota on April 23.
Tim Evans of MPR News
Abu says his concerns center on a few companies on the list. One of those companies is his Elbit Systems, an Israel-based company that manufactures weapons and drones for the Israeli military.
The disclosure shows the university has invested $5,595 in Elbit Systems.
Abu said he was also concerned about the university’s investments in U.S.-based defense companies such as Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.
The Student Union only received information related to the university’s investments in listed companies. As part of this, the university previously stated: It agreed with demonstrators that it would provide information about public companies and that some investments would be “protected by non-disclosure agreements or other legal restrictions.”
Abu says the sale should be easier because U.S. investments in Israeli-based companies are small compared to the overall size of the fund (“about a penny on the dollar”).
Abu pointed to the brevity of the one-page document and said it was “a good start to increasing transparency around investments.” Clearly, there is still much work to be done. ”
“We obviously want them to disclose all their funds,” Abu said.
Divest UMN plans to make a brief presentation in support of divestment to the university’s Board of Trustees on Friday morning.
On April 23, pro-Palestinian chalk art lines the sidewalk at the University of Minnesota.
Tim Evans of MPR News
Steven Huenegs, executive director of the Minnesota-Dakota Jewish Community Relations Council, said the boycott and divestment movement is “a mechanism for the delegitimization of the state of Israel.”
“This is just an attack on Israel and the Jewish people. Boycotting Jewish businesses has a long and harmful history that predates the independent state of Israel,” Huenegs said.
“We hope that no further action will be taken regarding the sale after the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting,” Huenegs said. Jewish campus leaders also plan to present to the board this Friday, Huenegs said.
The University of Minnesota’s Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday at the McNamara Alumni Center on the Twin Cities campus.
