In 2016 Norway's government authorized its pension fund, controlled by the country's finance ministry, to purchase Iranian government bonds. Thus, the fund boycotts U.S. defense companies, while allowing investments in the government of Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism and a patron of Bashar Assad's atrocities in Syria. Norway is also quickly building academic, banking, energy and other ties with Tehran.
That's a contrast with Oslo's cool stance toward Israel. In May, Norway's biggest trade union, which represents a quarter of the working-age population, voted for a complete boycott of Israel. Press reports in December suggested that Oslo would cut funding for nongovernmental groups that advocate boycotts of Israel. But on Jan. 2 the Norwegian mission in Palestine announced that no policy had changed and 'as before, the Norwegian Government will not provide support to organizations that have stated boycott of Israel as their primary goal' (emphasis added). At the United Nations last month, Norway voted to criticize America's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital...
Rather than praise Norway, Mr. Trump should be holding it accountable for how it chooses to spend-or not spend-the vast fortune it received from geography's lottery... An obvious place to start is the Commerce Department, which does have a small office focused on Arab government boycotts of Israel. That mission should first be expanded to include anti-Israel boycotts fostered by the U.N. and other international organizations. Then the Commerce Department unfortunately needs to start protecting American companies and workers from a broader range of boycotts, including Norway's."
