CRH exits Israeli operations

CRH confirmed it has exited the Israeli market, having sold its 25 per cent equity stake in its Israeli operations.

Nesher Cement is majority-owned by Clal Industries (75 per cent) with CRH having held the remaining shares via holding company, Mashav.

The boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement has been campaigning for CRH to sell its stake in Nesher Cement because its supplies cement used in the construction of Israel’s apartheid wall and settlements on occupied Palestinian land, both of which have been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice.

In March the Irish Independent newspaper reported that CRH had placed its holdings ​in Nesher under review, seemingly in response to public pressure. Campaigners made an official complaint about CRH to the OECD in 2012.

In its 2015 Development Strategy Update released last week, CRH said the largest divestment under its European Heavyside business was the disposal of its equity stake in its Israeli operation. However, the Irish building materials major has sold the stake stake for political reasons, insisting that the disposal was part of its "multi-year streamlining plan."