Registry · BEZQ.TA
Does Bezeq support Israel?
Bezeq The Israel Telecommunication Corp
Yes — Bezeq has documented support for Israel on record, including $4,112,970 in donations. Every claim below links to its source.
Filed under: Tech companies · Companies that support Israel
Background
Bezeq is an Israeli company and the country's incumbent telecoms operator, so its connection to Israel is its identity. What is documented falls into three strands. First, its own account of the war: designated an essential enterprise in an emergency, it kept the network running, waived charges for evacuees worth about NIS 2 million a month, connected more than 1,000 northern shelters and 45 temporary schools for free, paid NIS 4.2 million in appreciation bonuses to employees called up as reservists, and — through its yes and Pelephone subsidiaries — "adopted" the IDF's Givati Brigade. Second, third-party findings about its infrastructure in the occupied West Bank: the UN OHCHR database lists it as entry 25, and Norway's sovereign wealth fund excluded it in December 2024 after its Council on Ethics found it provides fixed-line, internet and mobile services to settlements in Area C. Bezeq contests that conclusion, arguing it operates under the Oslo Accords framework, serves Palestinian operators too, and cannot lawfully cut off service. Third, its philanthropy as the Hebrew business press reports it: Maala's 2025 corporate-responsibility ranking, presented at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on 22 July 2025 and covering 2024, put Bezeq at the top with the highest "Platinum Plus" grade for a second year running, and the company said it had widened its giving to about NIS 15 million and set up a fund called "Mehubarim" for those wounded in the Iron Swords war. All three strands are recorded here with their sources.
Bezeq Group ESG Report 2023 (company) OHCHR — A/HRC/60/19 database Council on Ethics — recommendation to exclude Bezeq (regjeringen.no) Norges Bank Investment Management — exclusion decision Bizportal — Maala's 2025 ESG ranking (Hebrew) ice — Partner and Bezeq in the Maala ESG 2025 ranking (Hebrew)
Timeline of documented support
Documented support
| Type | Date | Amount | Recipient | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operations in Israel | 2023-10-07 | — | All residents of Israel, with emphasis on evacuees from the south and north and on the security forces Bezeq is Israel's incumbent and largest telecommunications group — fixed-line and fibre (2.2 million households passed), the Pelephone mobile network, Bezeq International and the yes satellite-TV service — listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Its group companies are formally designated an "essential enterprise in an emergency" under Israeli law, and in its 2023 ESG report the group states that since 7 October 2023 it maintained business continuity and uninterrupted communication services for all residents of Israel, "with an emphasis on evacuees from the south and the north as well as security forces, all part of our concept of national responsibility." This entry records what the company is and the role the state assigns it; it is not a donation. | |
| In-kind support | 2023 | — | Israeli evacuees from the south and north; shelters in northern Israel; evacuees from kibbutzim Re'im and Kissufim; 45 temporary schools In its 2023 ESG report Bezeq Group sets out the free services it provided during the Iron Swords war: it waived payments for evacuees from both the southern and northern regions, a measure it valued at NIS 2 million per month; it provided free internet to more than 1,000 shelters in the north and to hundreds of apartments housing evacuees from kibbutzim Re'im and Kissufim; and Bezeq International's TECH unit established internet connectivity in 45 temporary schools for students evacuated from the south and north. These are the group's own waived charges and donated connectivity to civilians, not cash grants to organisations. | |
| Employee support | 2023 | $1,158,000 | Bezeq Group employees called up for military reserve service Bezeq Group reports that its employees who were called up for military service received "appreciation bonuses worth NIS 4.2 million" (about $1.16 million, NIS 4.2m at the Bank of Israel rate of 3.627 shekels to the dollar on 29 December 2023). This is a payment by the employer to its own staff who were mobilised by the state, not a donation to the army or to a charity — the distinction matters, and the figure is the company's own. | |
| In-kind support | 2023 | — | Givati Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces (adopted by yes and Pelephone) Under the heading "To our soldiers with love," Bezeq Group's 2023 ESG report states that at the height of the war its subsidiaries yes (satellite television) and Pelephone (mobile) "adopted the Givati Brigade" — the Israeli corporate practice of a company committing to supply and support a specific military unit. Attribution is precise: the adoption is reported for the two subsidiaries, not for Bezeq's fixed-line business, and the report gives no monetary value for it. | |
| Donation | 2024 | $4,112,970 | Community causes in Israel, including Bezeq's own "Mehubarim" fund for soldiers and others wounded in the Iron Swords war Maala, the Israeli corporate-responsibility organisation, presented its 2025 ESG ranking at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on 22 July 2025, covering what the ranked companies did in 2024. Reporting on it, Bizportal wrote that Bezeq had widened its own giving to about NIS 15 million (about $4.1 million, NIS 15m at the Bank of Israel rate of 3.647 shekels to the dollar on 31 December 2024), more than 30% above the year before, and that the company had set up a fund called "Mehubarim" to support those wounded in the Iron Swords war, combining rehabilitation help, vocational training, placement in work and hands-on involvement by staff. The money is the corporation's own; the staff involvement described is volunteering, not company cash. ice.co.il, covering the same ranking the same morning, records Bezeq holding the top "Platinum Plus" grade for a second year running and quotes chief executive Nir David saying the company "established the 'Mehubarim' fund, which assists and supports soldiers and wounded who were hurt during the Iron Swords war." Both outlets carry the same company announcement, and the NIS 15 million figure appears in Bizportal's report alone. | |
| Operations in Israel | 2025-09-26 | — | Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem (telecommunications services and infrastructure) The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights lists "Bezeq, the Israeli Telecommunications Corp. Ltd." as entry 25 in its database of business enterprises involved in activities linked to Israeli settlements (A/HRC/60/19, 26 September 2025, 158 enterprises). The activities recorded against it are (e) the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements and (g) the use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes. This is a UN finding of "reasonable grounds to believe," recorded here with its primary source; it is not a court judgment. | |
| Operations in Israel | 2024-12-03 | — | Israeli settlements in Area C of the occupied West Bank (fixed-line, internet and mobile infrastructure) Norges Bank, which manages Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, announced on 3 December 2024 that it was excluding Bezeq from the fund because of an unacceptable risk that the company contributes to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict. The underlying Council on Ethics recommendation of 30 August 2024 found that Bezeq owns and operates telecommunications infrastructure serving Israeli settlements in Area C of the West Bank, including mobile service through its subsidiary Pelephone, and concluded that through that physical presence it helps maintain the settlements. As of June 2024 the fund held 0.76% of Bezeq's shares, worth NOK 252 million. Bezeq argued in the process that it operates lawfully under the Oslo Accords, serves Palestinian telecom companies as well, and has no possibility of ceasing service to the settlements. | |
| Government contract | 2016 | ₪24,064,384 | Israeli military and prison authorities in the occupied West Bank and Gaza liaison — the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA), the military District Coordination and Liaison office (DCL) for Gaza, and the Israel Prison Service, including Ofer Prison Who Profits reports that Bezeq's subsidiaries hold ongoing service contracts with Israeli military and prison authorities operating in the occupied Palestinian territory. Pelephone provided the Israel Prison Service (IPS) with cellular services worth NIS 12,406,112 between 2016 and 2021; Bezeq International provided the IPS with landline, mobile-phone and technical services worth NIS 11,658,272 between 2017 and 2019, and in 2018 built two wings of Ofer Prison, an Israeli military detention facility and military court in the occupied West Bank holding Palestinian prisoners and administrative detainees. Separately, Bezeq, Bezeq International and Pelephone hold recurring smaller contracts (mostly under NIS 500,000 each) supplying phone, internet and cellular service to COGAT, the ICA in the West Bank, and the military's DCL Gaza office, running 2021 through 2025; Bezeq also received a 2021 tender exemption to supply the ICA with landline service. These are business-to-government service contracts, not donations. Who Profits states the figures come from Israeli government procurement records and Bezeq's own annual report, but does not link the underlying tender documents, and this pass did not independently locate them — the claim is recorded as single-sourced to Who Profits, an advocacy research centre whose characterisation this entry attributes to it, not to us. | One source |
| Operations in Israel | 2020-10-26 | — | Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan (fixed-line, cellular and satellite-TV infrastructure and licenses) Who Profits documents settlement-specific telecommunications licenses and infrastructure that add detail beyond the UN OHCHR finding already recorded on this page. On 26 October 2020 Israel's Ministry of Communications and the Civil Administration issued Bezeq a general license to operate fixed-line telecommunications in Area C of the West Bank, after 36 years of unlicensed operation there. Pelephone holds a settlement cellular license valid to September 2032 and, per Who Profits' count, operates at least 160 active cellular antennas across more than 60 named West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements plus 14 Syrian Golan settlements and several West Bank industrial zones. YES holds a West Bank satellite-television license valid to February 2026, subject to Civil Administration renewal. In September 2025 Bezeq announced a project with the state-owned National Roads Company (Netivei Israel) to lay over 1,000 km of fiber optic cable connecting West Bank and Golan settlements. Who Profits also states, citing Bezeq's own annual report, that the company owns 64 properties in West Bank settlements. The characterisation is Who Profits', an advocacy research centre; this pass did not independently retrieve the underlying license and tender documents it cites. | One source |
| Donations total | $4,112,970 | |||
Frequently asked questions
Did Bezeq donate money to Israel or Israeli causes?
Yes. Documented donations total $4,112,970, including $4,112,970 to Community causes in Israel, including Bezeq's own "Mehubarim" fund for soldiers and others wounded in the Iron Swords war. Each donation is listed on this page with its date and source.
How much has Bezeq given?
Documented donations total $4,112,970. The largest single recorded item is $4,112,970 to Community causes in Israel, including Bezeq's own "Mehubarim" fund for soldiers and others wounded in the Iron Swords war (2024).
Where does this information come from?
Every record on this page links to its source — news reports, official company statements, tax filings, or government records. 11 distinct sources are cited for Bezeq. Our methodology page explains the full verification process.
Sources & citations
Record last updated: 2026-09-26
- Bezeq Group ESG Report 2023 (company) esg.bezeq.co.il
- Bezeq Group ESG Report 2023 — archived snapshot (Internet Archive) web.archive.org
- Bizportal — Maala's 2025 ESG ranking (Hebrew) bizportal.co.il
- ice — Partner and Bezeq in the Maala ESG 2025 ranking (Hebrew) ice.co.il
- ice — Maala publishes its 2025 ESG ranking (Hebrew) ice.co.il
- OHCHR — A/HRC/60/19 database ohchr.org
- OHCHR — database landing page ohchr.org
- Norges Bank Investment Management — exclusion decision nbim.no
- Council on Ethics — recommendation to exclude Bezeq (regjeringen.no) files.nettsteder.regjeringen.no
- Reuters reuters.com
- Who Profits — company profile: Bezeq (advocacy research centre) whoprofits.org