Waltham Forest said it will look to pull pension funds from companies linked to supplying Israel with arms but stressed the process would ‘take time’, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter

Waltham Forest Council has vowed to divest from companies involved with the arms trade, but progress will be slow.

It approved a series of amendments to its ‘ethical investment policy’ at a special pensions meeting last night (22nd July), after months of protests by Waltham Forest For a Free Palestine (WF4FP).

The council clarified it will look to pull its pension funds from companies linked to supplying arms with Israel, which has been at war with Gaza’s governing body Hamas since October last year. The council will also join the other 31 London borough at a summit on sustainable investment in September.

Committee chairman Johar Khan said it was “really frustrating it can’t be fixed now,” but acknowledged the “complexity” of the issue and warned divestment from the arms trade “would take some time”.

Waltham Forest was the first authority in the country to divest from fossil fuel companies, but vice chairwoman Jenny Gray said that process “took years”.

The authority has around £1.1m invested in various companies via the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV), which manages pooled pension funds on behalf of all London boroughs.

A Freedom of Information request (FOI), obtained by WF4FP, showed that Waltham Forest money had been invested in companies linked to the production of Israeli fighter jets, bulldozers, and white phosphorus, which can burn through bone and is heavily regulated.

Cllr Khan said the committee was “worried” about its funds being “exposed” to such companies.

Though it retains international support, Israel’s military campaign – which has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Gazans according to the UN – has been categorised as genocidal by South Africa.

Each resolution was met with applause from the eight guest speakers and 30 attendees from Waltham Forest For a Free Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and trade union Unison.

Activists had been demanding the authority invest its pension funds in companies not linked to the Middle Eastern state, citing moral concerns and financial risks.

At the meeting, WF4FP said more than 40,000 Israeli companies have closed since October – according to Israeli newspaper Maariv – due to uncertain conditions on the ground.

Members also presented councillors with a petition, signed by more than 3,000 locals who “do not want to be complicit in Israel’s war crimes”.

One activist said: “We hope that you, like us, share horror and pain at hearing such stories [of children dying].

“While we are here talking about pensions and timelines and bureaucracy, we must not forget the immediacy of the violence.”

Another member, Jade, added that 80% of polled council workers supported divesting their pension from “companies linked to Israel’s genocidal occupation”. She said: “People in Waltham Forest are appalled and disgraced.”

A representative from LCIV said that monitoring human rights abuses had been a priority since 2021, though the system was “bureaucratic”.

She said: “Contracts need to be agreed between fund managers.

“Children are dying now and this is happening now, but timing is key on decisions around divestment. There can be a monetary loss associated with these decisions.”

Stating that the LCIV lacked the authority to tell a fund manager to divest, the rep added: “There might be quick wins in certain sectors, but there’s a lot of complex nuance with large technology companies we all rely on. Even people here today will be stuck using them – and that’s a challenge we face as a society, not just in the pension fund.”

WF4FP had initially hoped for an open discussion between activists, councillors, and LCIV representatives from but Cllr Khan ruled it out.

Most speakers are given just three minutes at the start of a full council meeting to raise any issues, and members are not obligated to respond.

WF4FP had been given a full half-hour – though the presentation ultimately ran for closer to 40 minutes – at the first meeting of its kind. They used strong language, accusing Israel of genocide and likening its treatment of Palestinians to apartheid.

They called on the council to disclose its investments – which strategic director Rob Manning said had already been done – as well as to produce a timeline for divestments. Cllr Khan committed to this, though the exact wording of the commitments was not agreed upon.

The group also wanted to see the council make a public statement, which Cllr Khan said had been done by virtue of the meeting being publicly accessible, and agreed with the council’s plans to produce quarterly reports “until divestment goals are reached”.

They pushed for the council to look into the Renewable Infrastructure Fund and UK Housing Fund, though pensions chief Debbie Drew said the council needed a “diverse portfolio”.

While campaigners felt the two-hour meeting had been “positive” overall, one member told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was worried the council had left itself “wiggle room”.

Other authorities, such as Islington Council, have agreed to pursue divestment. Hackney Council rejected a similar motion amid heated protests earlier this month.

Waltham Forest’s pension committee will present its updated investment strategy at its next meeting, in September.

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