Barclays is a predatory lender whose pursuit of profit is unrestrained by ethics or social responsibility.
They knowingly support the ethnic cleansing of the whole of Palestine.
In this section we cover:
  • Complicity in Genocide
  • What You Can Do
  • Closing a Barclays Account
  • Remember South Africa?
  • Links to other resources​

Complicity in Genocide

Barclays gives its support to the Zionist state wherever it possibly can:

Financing the Israeli State
  • When Israel needs to raise money in international markets, they issue bonds in dollars. To ensure this funding is successful there is a consortium of banks to help asset managers (like pension funds) buy the bonds. Note that there is a special route for people who want to help finance Israel for ideological reasons.
  • Barclays acts as one of these primary dealers - the only UK bank to do so. 
  • In August 2024, under pressure from activists, they considered withdrawal. But then – under pressure from Israel – decided to continue.
  • Barclays argues that they are not directly financing Israel. BUT, they are helping others finance the State of Israel. And those funds support military operations and settlement expansion. And since the start of the genocide, Israel has needed more and more money to finance the onslaught.

Arms manufacturing
  • Barclays is also a major financier of companies supplying weapons and military technology used in attacks on Palestinians, including Elbit Systems, Caterpillar, General Dynamics, and Raytheon.
  • Barclays holds over £2 billion in shares and provides £6.1 billion in loans and underwriting to nine arms companies supplying Israel, verified by independent research organisation Profundo.
  • Provided $2 billion in loans and underwriting to arms firms like Lockheed Martin (£862M) and Leonardo (£228M), which supply fighter jets, missiles, and targeting systems used in Gaza. ​
 ​
Illegal Settlements
  • Barclays is ranked as Europe’s sixth largest creditor of businesses operating in Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements, based on a 2023 report by the Don’t Buy Into Occupation Coalition.
  • A 2025 report by Oxfam and the Stop Trade With Settlements campaign revealed that Barclays provided $18.1 billion in loans to settlement-linked firms over a three-and-a-half-year period, making it the third largest creditor in this category.
Some of the Companies Barclays Supports
  • Barclays often claims that its investments are driven by client demand and not direct corporate investment. But they have a choice: enable their clients to be complicit in the genocide, or not.​​
  • ​They also engage in a 'bed-and-breakfast' approach to their accounts. This means that they sell investments just before the reporting date, then buy them back just after. This way they avoid reporting the truth.
Elbit Systems
Picture
  • ​Elbit Systems explicitly markets its weapons as having been "battle tested on Palestinians," a claim it uses to promote its products internationally.
  • It is Israel’s largest private arms manufacturer and a major supplier to the Israeli military, producing drones, bombs, and munitions used in military operations against Palestinians.
  • In April 2024, seven aid workers in Gaza were killed in a strike involving a Hermes 450 drone manufactured by Elbit. The drone uses a Wankel engine design linked to a UK-based subsidiary of the company.​
Caterpillar
Picture
  • For many years Israel has used D9 bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes in the illegally occupied West Bank. More recently they have been used to help bulldoze the life out of Gaza.
  • Barclays holds shares in Caterpillar, as well as lending them money and underwriting their debt.
  • The largest Norwegian pension fund divested from Caterpillar for this very reason: norway-divest-caterpillar-gaza

What You Can Do

  • As individuals we can only change Barclays behaviour if they can see that their ties to Israel are bad for business. They will get the message if we withdraw business, and they can see that we are hindering them getting new business.
  • PSC Nationally and the BDS movement are focused on Barclays, and together we can make a difference. 

Close Bank accounts
  • Closing your account with Barclays is a powerful signal. But it is MUCH more powerful if you tell them why. Let them know they have lost money because of the investments and help they give the Israeli state and weapons manufacturers.
  • See section below about closing your account.

Encourage Friends to Close Accounts
  • It's amazing how many people support Palestine but yet maintain a Barclays account. Perhaps because they are not aware? Perhaps they think it's too hard to switch? Please encourage them to make the change.

Write to your Councillor
  • Guildford: We have been fighting with Guildford Borough Council  to get them to completely divest from Barclays. We will keep fighting.
  • Woking: A similar push is being made in Woking.
  • If you are in another council, and would like help looking into their investments, let us know.
  • These changes won't happen overnight. But, at the very least, it helps keep the issue of Palestine in the minds of councillors.

Closing a Barclays Account

Tell them Why!
Opening a New Account
What Bank?
  • There are a number of good banks out there who deserve your money. Rather than try to keep track of things here, please check out this link: ethical banks
  • At the time of writing the top banks are:
    • Al Rayan
    • Co-operative Bank
    • Cumberland Building Society
    • Metro Bank
    • Monzo
    • Nationwide Building Society
    • Revolut
    • Starling
    • Triodos

Remember South Africa?

  • We older folks can still remember back to when we were students, and banks competed to sign us up.  But a vocal crowd advised us NOT to open an account with Barclays, because of its complicity with the apartheid regime in South Africa. The cumulative impact changed their behaviour:​
  • British Students force end of Barclays ....

Useful Documents

  • The following reports are useful additional background material. If you hover your mouse over a particular PDF, you should see a download button so you can retrieve the full PDF file.
  • The Report on Barclays, by CAAT, War on Want, PSC (May 2024) is a comprehensive report focusing specifically on Barclays.
  • From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide, by the UN General Assembly (which is also available here: link), is more recent report covering the occupation, and describes Barclays support of Israel's bond issuance.
Links to docs, will open in new window: