Australia’s largest super fund, Australian Super, is investing members’ money in Israeli companies profiting from the US/Israeli genocide of the Palestinians. Michael West reports.
Australia’s largest super fund, Australian Super, is invested in Israeli companies linked to war crimes in Palestine, including a manufacturer of the deadly white phosphorus which has been used in IDF attacks on crowded civilian areas in Gaza and Lebanon.
AusSuper holds shares in both Elbit Systems, Israel’s biggest weapons manufacturer and ICL Group (formerly Israel Chemicals Ltd) which manufactures white phosphorus. Spanish protestors gathered to protest the group’s involvement in war crimes outside ICL offices in May.
The big question is, are these investments, which are linked to war crimes, in breach of the fund manager’s own human rights obligations? Australian Super, like many large organisations, is a signatory to the UN General Principles (UNGP) on Business and Human Rights.
These investments alone would appear to constitute a gross contravention of AusSuper’s own stated principles.
And by making these investments, the fund manager – which manages around $360 billion of assets for ordinary Australians – has made millions of ordinary Australians unwitting investors in genocide.
At one of the Israeli military-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s “distribution zones,” Palestinians who walk miles under gunfire enter chaotic, concentration camp areas.
Aid is thrown randomly, forcing people to fight for food, while children, the elderly, and the injured are… pic.twitter.com/bJ7s2WcZKc
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) June 10, 2025
AusSuper holds investments in 55 Israeli companies which we could find (see spreadsheet graphic below). Many of these are linked to providing services to the Netanyahu government and the IDF and others involved in funding illegal settlements.
But ICL and Elbit stand out: Elbit for its role in selling drones and other weaponry (which killed aid worker Zomi Frankcom) to the IDF, and ICL for the sheer deadliness and the illegal use of its white phosphorus.
Elbit: how Australia helped finance the IDF killing of Zomi Frankcom and the slaughter in Gaza
In a response to questions by MWM, a spokesman for AusSuper said the group invested in “a globally diversified portfolio to enhance returns for members over the long term”.
“The fund has a small exposure to Elbit and ICL through passive index funds. These securities are not included in our Socially Aware option. AustralianSuper implements the Australian sanction regime regarding all investment activity.”
To be fair to AusSuper, this passive investment approach suggests that the fund manager is simply matching its members’ funds with an index benchmark such as the MSCI on the advice of asset consultants. Also, many other funds managers are likely to be invested in Israeli assets linked to war crimes.
Yet to be frank with AusSuper, they didn’t answer the questions put to them. And the chairman Dr Don Russell and his board failed to respond, despite this being their responsibility (not that of a ‘spokesperson’).
- How does Australian Super reconcile its stated commitment to human rights and international law when it is such a large investor in Israel and in particular in companies involved in weapons making (Elbit) and chemicals used in illegal warfare (ICL)?
- Could you please confirm your Israel investments (as per the attachment) and estimate how much is invested in these stocks (Israel companies) at present? By percentage country weighting and overall dollar value.
- Have you (the Board, the company IFM or the AS funds) taken legal advice as to the risk of being found to be involved in financing war crimes? If so, what is this advice?
Have they taken legal advice about the hypocrisy of their UNGP commitments vis-a-vis their actual investments? Have they bothered to examine whether their investments are currently killing people in breach of international law? Have they been on Israel junkets?
If enough AusSuper investors demand to know, and demand that their superannuation savings are not being invested in activities of the very highest criminal order – genocide – the board of Australian Super may take a firm position.
Or they could hide, as does the Future Fund. Because making money and keeping in good with the go-with-the-flow-crew is the safe option. Does principle, indeed one’s own stated principles, mean nothing when there is money to be made?
If they were fair dinkum about their UNGP stated principles they would sell Israel exposure altogether until the genocide ended.
Future Fund reaps a big return from genocide of Palestinians