"Gulf states linked to Israeli businesses on UN settlements blacklist,"

An investment firm headed by Jared Kushner and backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates is the largest shareholder in an Israeli company which in turn holds shares in businesses accused by the United Nations of operating in illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Affinity Partners has received several billion dollars in funding from the Gulf states’ sovereign wealth funds since it was launched by Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son in law and former Middle East advisor, in 2021.

In January, just weeks after securing further funding from the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA) and an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, Affinity completed the purchase of a near-10 percent stake in Phoenix Financial.

Phoenix, formerly known as Phoenix Holdings, is an Israeli financial services group that offers insurance and asset management services, and holds shares in other Israeli companies in its own name and through a subsidiary, Phoenix Investment House.

An investigation by Middle East Eye has established that these include 11 public companies and one private company currently named in a database of businesses with links to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, compiled by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)...

In a statement to MEE, Affinity said: “Affinity is proud to be the largest shareholder of Phoenix, one of the best performing and well regarded Israeli financial institutions.

“Affinity’s investors are passive, meaning they have no role in Affinity’s or Phoenix’s operations.”...

MEE has approached Phoenix for comment.

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