The Norwegian Government, which intends to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, submitted a draft bill in June proposing such a ban out for consultation, as is customary in the Norwegian legislative process.
Among the bodies the government invited to comment on the draft bill – which would punish such trade with up to three years’ imprisonment – were, as usual, a long list of the state’s many authorities and institutions, as well as professional organisations of all kinds.
Excluding these, eight NGOs – that is, organisations which, in principle, should not be closely linked to the state – were also appointed as consultation bodies, specifically:
Amnesty International, the Joint Committee for Palestine, the Norwegian Refugee Council, With Israel for Peace (MIFF), Norwegian People’s Aid, the Norwegian Red Cross, Save the Children and the Palestine Committee in Norway.
Of these, only MIFF takes a favourable view of Israel, whilst the majority of the other NGOs have campaigned politically against Norway trading with Israeli settlements – and several of them have been funded by the Norwegian state.
Research by the Israeli NGO Monitor, to which *Document* has gained access, demonstrates in detail how six of these organisations are actively campaigning against Israel.
Save the Children, which in recent years has received tens of millions of kroner from Norway for projects in the Palestinian territories, has on several occasions, such as in 2024 and 2025, called on the Government and Norges Bank to ensure that Norwegian investments do not contribute to Israel’s ‘illegal occupation’ of Palestinian territories and the risk of ‘genocide and war crimes’ in Gaza.
A letter to Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg regarding Norwegian investments that contribute to the ‘occupation’, was signed by Save the Children, Norwegian People’s Aid, Amnesty International, the Joint Committee for Palestine and the Palestine Committee in Norway (as well as many other organisations, such as the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions and the Islamic Council of Norway).
Save the Children, Amnesty International Norway, Norwegian People’s Aid, the Joint Committee for Palestine and the Palestine Committee in Norway held a joint event on ethical requirements for the Petroleum Fund, where Israel’s ‘occupation’ was the main topic. Members of the Storting from the Labour Party, SV, Rødt and MDG spoke at the event.
Norwegian People’s Aid, which is a member of the ‘Don’t Buy Into Occupation’ campaign, has also received tens of millions of kroner from the government for projects in Gaza and the West Bank. The organisation has also engaged in direct lobbying of the government, according to NGO Monitor:
– In September 2024, Norwegian People’s Aid, the Palestine Committee in Norway and the Action Group for Palestine met with State Secretary Andreas Kravik at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The organisations called on Norway to withdraw ‘all the Oil Fund’s investments from the Israeli occupation’, introduce ‘a ban on the purchase of Israeli goods from occupied territories’ and work towards sanctions against Israel on the grounds of what they described as “illegal occupation and genocide”.
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Norwegian Refugee Council, which has also received tens of millions for activities in Gaza and the West Bank, has in a report from 2024, called on states to ban the business sector from conducting business in Israeli settlements.
Amnesty International Norway called on Norwegian politicians in 2025 to work towards Norway withdrawing its investments from activities linked to Israel’s ‘violations of Palestinians’ rights’.
The Joint Committee for Palestine (FuP), an umbrella organisation which includes, amongst others, BDS Norway, called on the government in 2024 to boycott Israeli products.
The Palestine Committee in Norway reported Norges Bank, the Government Pension Fund and the Ministry of Finance to the authorities in January 2026 for complicity in war crimes due to Norwegian investments in Israeli companies.
By inviting these six anti-Israeli NGOs to act as consultative bodies in a case where the government shares the same activist stance, the government is setting itself up to receive the answers it desires, and is thus, in practice, using them as a spearhead against Israel.
– “This anti-Israeli obsession does not serve the interests of ordinary Norwegians,” NGO Monitor tells Document.
