INDEX / DIRECTORY / COSTCO

Costco

Supermarkets & GroceriesDepartment Stores 66 CITED SOURCES UPDATED 2026-08-30 METHOD V6.4
Complicity Index score 260 /1000 D Tier D - Moderate
Military ↗ 0.00 Digital ↗ 0.00 Economic ↗ 1.82 Political ↗ 3.00
OWNERSHIP TREE 5 brands and group businesses View all

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Key Findings

  • Economic: Costco retail channels documented Israel-origin Tnuva feta and reported availability of Jaffa/Mehadrin grapefruit; civil-society reporting identifies a Mehadrin → AM Fresh North America → Costco pathway, though it does not establish Costco purchase orders or settlement-specific origin.1, 2, 3
  • Settlements: Supplier and civil-society sources report that Shamir Salads exports hummus to Costco USA and identify Shamir’s main factory in the Barkan Industrial Zone in the occupied West Bank; the available record does not verify a current Costco SKU, volumes, or product-level origin.4, 5, 6
  • Political: Costco’s non-executive chairman Hamilton E. James is president and treasurer of a family foundation that made a $40,000 general-purpose grant to Jewish Voters Unite; the filing does not show an Israel-specific earmark, lobbying, candidate endorsement, military support, or use of Costco corporate funds.7, 8, 9
  • Not found: No public evidence identified of Costco defence contracting, Israeli military or security supply, Project Nimbus participation, Israeli surveillance/biometric technology use, or an Israeli-operated Costco warehouse or e-commerce site.10, 11, 12

Target Profile

FieldDetail
Company NameCostco Wholesale Corporation
JurisdictionWashington corporation.10
Headquarters999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, Washington.10
SectorMembership-warehouse retail and e-commerce.10
OwnershipPublicly listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as COST. The December 2025 proxy listed Vanguard Group at 9.79% and BlackRock at 7.83%; it identified no beneficial owner at or above 10%.10, 13
Key Executives / GovernanceRon M. Vachris, President, Chief Executive Officer and director; Hamilton E. James, non-executive Chairman. Gary Millerchip served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in FY2025.10, 13
Israeli-Nexus SummaryDocumented retail sale or reported supply-chain links involving Israel-origin and potentially settlement-linked food products; no verified Costco operating presence, state contract, military relationship, or Israeli technology nexus.1, 4, 10, 11

Key Facts:

Executive Summary

Costco is a Washington-incorporated membership-warehouse and e-commerce retailer. The documented Israel/Palestine nexus is principally economic: Costco’s Same-Day storefront listed Tnuva feta as a “Product of Israel”; community kosher notices reported AM Fresh grapefruit at some Costco stores labelled “Jaffa / Mehadrin – Israel” in 2024 and 2025; and Al-Haq reported a Mehadrin → AM Fresh North America → Costco distribution pathway in 2026.1, 2, 3 These sources establish retail availability or reported supply-chain links, not Costco purchase orders, supplier-of-record arrangements, volumes, contractual terms, or farm-level origins.

The strongest settlement-related lead concerns Shamir Salads. Export IL states that Shamir exports hummus to Costco USA and began marketing its hummus there in 2016. Who Profits similarly identifies Costco USA as a business partner/customer and reports that Shamir’s main factory is in the Barkan Industrial Zone in the occupied West Bank.4, 5 A kosher certificate and public shipment/recall material support the existence and manufacturing role of Shamir’s Barkan facility, but none identifies a Costco SKU or establishes that goods sold by Costco came from that factory.6, 15, 16 The Shamir–Costco relationship is therefore supported by supplier-directory and civil-society reporting rather than an independently located Costco contract, customs record naming Costco, supplier announcement, or product label.

The political record is narrower and must not be conflated with Costco corporate conduct. Human review of the James Family Charitable Foundation’s fiscal-2024 grant schedule found a $40,000 general-purpose grant to Jewish Voters Unite, whose public materials describe electoral mobilisation and whose leadership history includes advocacy related to US–Israel relations.7, 8, 9 Hamilton E. James is the foundation’s president and treasurer, but the foundation filing does not show that the grant was Israel-specific, connected to lobbying or a candidate endorsement, or funded by Costco. Costco states that it does not take positions on social issues, is not involved in partisan politics, and does not contribute money to political candidates or issues.17

The audits found no public evidence of Costco defence procurement, military sustainment, weapons, export licences, contracts with Israeli security bodies, Project Nimbus participation, Israeli data-centre operations, Israeli-origin surveillance/biometric deployments, or military-purpose AI.11, 12, 18, 19, 20 Costco’s filings do not list Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights among its operated warehouse or e-commerce jurisdictions; the significant-subsidiary list contains no Israeli entity but is incomplete by design.10, 14

Under the fixed, human-vetted V4 assessment, Costco receives a BRS of 260, Tier D (Moderate). The score reflects the documented economic and political vectors while preserving material evidentiary limits and the absence of verified military or digital involvement.

Timeline of Relevant Events

DateEvent
1983Costco began operations in Seattle, Washington.10
2010Reporting on boycott appeals attributed to Costco a statement that clementine sourcing rotated seasonally among Israel, Spain, and California; the current status of this reported sourcing is unknown.21
2016Export IL states that Shamir began marketing hummus to Costco USA.4
16 April 2024A K-COR notice reported AM Fresh grapefruit at some Costco stores bearing “Jaffa / Mehadrin – Israel” labelling.2
12 February 2025A further K-COR notice again reported AM Fresh grapefruit at Costco labelled “Jaffa / Mehadrin – Israel.”22
31 August 2025Costco’s FY2025 filing listed operating jurisdictions without Israel or the occupied Palestinian territory.10
15 January 2026Costco shareholders elected the disclosed director slate, including Hamilton E. James and Ron M. Vachris, through the 2027 annual meeting.23
February 2026Al-Haq reported a Mehadrin → AM Fresh North America → Costco pathway and identified Mehadrin products at Costco; underlying product-distribution evidence was not independently retrieved in the research shard.3
Fiscal 2024 filing reviewed in 2026The James Family Charitable Foundation disclosed a $40,000 general-purpose grant to Jewish Voters Unite.7
28 May 2026Costco reported 931 warehouses, without listing Israel or the occupied territories as warehouse or e-commerce jurisdictions.24

Corporate Overview

Costco operates membership warehouses and associated e-commerce sites through Costco Wholesale Corporation and its subsidiaries.10, 12 Its FY2025 filing identifies warehouse operations in the United States and Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Sweden, Iceland, and New Zealand; its listed e-commerce jurisdictions do not include Israel.10 Subsequent operating disclosures likewise did not list Israel or the occupied territories.24

Costco’s significant-subsidiary exhibit lists entities in jurisdictions including the United States, Canada, Korea, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and Australia, but not an Israeli-incorporated significant subsidiary.14 This is a limited disclosure finding: the exhibit expressly omits subsidiaries that are not significant in the aggregate and cannot exclude every immaterial entity, commercial relationship, supplier, reseller, or licensee.14

A commercial registry mirror lists an active company named “COSTCO KIRKLAND ISRAEL LTD,” incorporated in Givatayim in 2020. No reviewed primary corporate record establishes its ownership, authorisation, trademark status, franchise arrangement, or any affiliation with Costco Wholesale Corporation. It should not be treated as evidence of Costco operating in Israel.25, 10, 14

Domain Summaries

Military: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

No public evidence identified of a Costco contract, tender award, framework agreement, memorandum, export licence, or procurement relationship with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, IDF, Israel Prison Service, Border Police, or another Israeli security body.10, 11, 18 The reviewed materials identify Costco’s principal business as membership warehouses and e-commerce, not defence manufacturing, military procurement, or tactical-product supply.10

No public evidence identified that Costco supplied military-specified or dual-use products to Israeli security end users; provided logistics, catering, freight, fuel, or facilities services to IDF bases or detention facilities; or supplied weapons, munitions, strategic-platform components, targeting software, or systems to Israeli forces.10, 11 No public evidence identified of Costco involvement in settlement construction, demolitions, barrier infrastructure, checkpoints, detention infrastructure, or security facilities in occupied territory.10

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The strongest defence is the company’s civilian retail character and the absence of a disclosed military nexus. Israeli Ministry of Defense procurement and export-control pages reviewed do not identify Costco as a supplier, exporter, or participant in defence procurement or defence-export activity.11, 18

The absence findings are disclosure- and search-scoped. Costco’s filings do not rule out all third-party resale, suppliers, or commercial relationships not required to be publicly disclosed.10, 14 Al-Haq’s reporting on Mehadrin-branded products concerns consumer retail and settlement-commerce allegations, not defence procurement or military end use.3

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Digital: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

Costco’s current job listing describes Google Workspace as a core collaboration and productivity suite for its global workforce, including Google Admin Console, Gmail, Drive, Vault, Gemini, and governance functions such as DLP, auditing, data-residency controls, SSO/SAML, and OAuth.19 A vendor-authored Vertex page describes sales-and-use-tax and VAT compliance within Costco’s internal SAP systems.26

No public evidence identified of a Costco licensing, implementation, subscription, or managed-service relationship with identified Israeli-origin cybersecurity, surveillance, biometric, AI, or retail-technology vendors.19, 26 No public evidence identified of Costco participation in Project Nimbus, an Israeli-government cloud programme, Israeli data-centre operations, or digital services to Israeli state or military institutions.12, 27

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The documented Google Workspace and SAP-related material establishes ordinary enterprise technology use, not an Israel-related technology nexus.19, 26 Costco’s 2019 SAP Leonardo presentation described retail bakery demand forecasting, not military AI, targeting, intelligence, or security use; its ongoing status is unknown.20

SEC filings do not provide a complete vendor inventory, cloud-region configuration, surveillance-tool list, or data-routing map. Therefore, the audits’ “No public evidence identified” findings do not establish the absence of undisclosed technology suppliers or arrangements.10, 14, 19

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Economic: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

Costco’s Same-Day storefront listed Tnuva feta as a “Product of Israel.”1 K-COR notices reported AM Fresh grapefruit sold at some Costco stores with “Jaffa / Mehadrin – Israel” labelling in April 2024 and February 2025.2, 22 Al-Haq subsequently reported a pathway described as Mehadrin → AM Fresh North America → Costco and identified Mehadrin products at Costco in 2026.3

Export IL states that Shamir Salads exports its hummus line to Costco USA and began marketing hummus there in 2016. Who Profits identifies Costco USA as a general business partner/customer and reports that Shamir’s principal factory is in Barkan Industrial Zone in the West Bank, while stating that the company labels products abroad as “Made in Israel.”4, 5 The Barkan location is independently supported as Shamir’s manufacturing address by a 2022 certificate, public shipment display, and a 2025 Israeli food-recall notice; those records do not identify Costco.6, 15, 16

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The record does not establish Costco purchase orders, direct contracts, importer-of-record arrangements, volumes, dates of ongoing procurement, or farm-level origins for Mehadrin or AM Fresh products.2, 3 The Tnuva listing identifies Israel as country of origin but does not establish whether the product originated in Israel, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights.1

Likewise, no reviewed source establishes that a particular Costco Shamir SKU was manufactured at the Barkan factory. Panjiva displays Shamir shipments to Pikante USA Corp., not Costco, and does not connect that importer to Costco’s supply chain.15 There is no public evidence identified of a Costco-specific regulatory enforcement action concerning settlement-origin goods or country-of-origin labelling, or of a Costco policy specifically addressing sourcing from occupied territories.1, 2, 3

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Political: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

Costco’s reviewed investor-relations materials and FY2025 filing contained no official statement on Israel, Gaza, Palestine, civilian harm, aid, ceasefire, or a related corporate donation or logistics programme.10, 28 Costco represents that it does not take positions on social issues, is not involved in partisan politics, and does not contribute money to political candidates or issues.17

The principal documented political lead concerns Hamilton E. James in a personal and family-foundation capacity. James is Costco’s non-executive Chairman and is identified as president and treasurer of the James Family Charitable Foundation.13, 7 The complete fiscal-2024 grant schedule records a $40,000 general-purpose grant to Jewish Voters Unite.7 The recipient describes electoral mobilisation; its leadership page notes prior advocacy to strengthen US–Israel relations, while press reporting links its founding to opposition to a politician it characterises as anti-Israel.8, 9

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The grant is not documented as a Costco contribution. The foundation filing labels it “GENERAL” and does not establish Israel-specific earmarking, lobbying, military-welfare support, settlement support, candidate endorsement, or use of Costco funds.7 The foundation’s reviewed 2022 filing reported no lobbying, political-campaign intervention, or political-purpose spending, and the fully reviewed fiscal-2023 schedule contained no recipient expressly identified by a conflict-specific Israel/Palestine name.29, 30

No public evidence identified of Costco corporate donations, crisis logistics, lobbying, PAC activity, political spending, or trade-association work specifically concerning Israel/Palestine, settlements, or anti-BDS legislation. A reported 2023 invitation from Israel’s finance minister to Costco to enter Israel is not evidence of a Costco agreement, investment, entry, or response.31

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Complicity Index Score (V4)

DomainIMPV-Domain Score
Military0.000.000.000.00
Digital0.000.000.000.00
Economic2.505.109.001.82
Political7.003.009.003.00

V_MAX is driven by Political (3.00), reflecting the documented chairman-linked foundation grant while retaining the distinction between personal/foundation activity and Costco corporate conduct. Economic (1.82) reflects the documented retail and reported supply-chain nexus, including unresolved settlement-related sourcing leads. Scores are fixed, human-vetted V4 results using an evidence-only, scale-free assessment of Impact × magnitude/proximity.

Methodology Note

Footnotes

  1. https://sameday.costco.com/store/costco/products/192125-tnuva-tnuva-feta-cheese-2-ct-2-ct ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. https://cordetroit.com/news/k-cor-2024-4-16-pesach-update/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. https://www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2026/02/25/israeli-appropriation-and-exploitation-in-palestine-using-medjoul-dates-1772035603.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  4. https://exportil.com/manufacturer/shamir-salads/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  5. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3647/ar ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. https://exportil.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/%D7%91%D7%93%D7%A5-%D7%A2%D7%93%D7%94-%D7%97%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%99%D7%AA-%D7%A1%D7%9C%D7%98%D7%99-%D7%A9%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A8-%D7%99%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%90-2022.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/137051493/202611689349100131/full ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  8. https://jewishvotersunite.org/about-us/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. https://www.jns.org/feature/sleeping-giant-jewish-voters-unite-pushes-ny-jews-to-flex-political-power ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983225000101/cost-20250831.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24

  11. https://www.mod.gov.il/en/departments/defense-procurement-directorate-dpd ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  12. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  13. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983225000159/cost-20251204.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983225000101/costex21110k83125.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  15. https://panjiva.com/Shamir-Salads-2006-Ltd/8798173 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/news/rcl-06072025/ru/NEWS_recalls_food_rcl-05072025.pdf ↩ ↩2

  17. https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/839/~/does-costco-wholesale-make-political-contributions-or-provide-other-political ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  18. https://exportctrl.mod.gov.il/en ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  19. https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/collaboration-platform-engineer-at-costco-wholesale-4430764210 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  20. https://blog.asug.com/hubfs/2019%20AC%20Slide%20Decks%20Wednesday/ASUG82803%20-%20Costco%20Leveraging%20SAP%20Leonardo%20to%20Streamline%20Fresh%20Food%20Production.pdf ↩ ↩2

  21. https://www.supermarketnews.com/grocery-categories/costco-targeted-for-selling-israeli-products ↩

  22. https://cordetroit.com/news/k-cor-2025-2-12-koshergram/ ↩ ↩2

  23. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983226000016/cost-20260115.htm ↩

  24. https://investor.costco.com/news/news-details/2026/Costco-Wholesale-Corporation-Reports-Third-Quarter-and-Year-To-Date-Operating-Results-For-Fiscal-2026/default.aspx ↩ ↩2

  25. https://en.checkid.co.il/company/COSTCO%2BKIRKLAND%2BISRAEL%2BLTD-1aVwN37-516273752 ↩

  26. https://www.vertexinc.com/resources/resource-library/costco-automates-indirect-tax-processes-vertex-and-sap ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  27. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/reports/ahrc5352-update-database-all-business-enterprises-involved-activities-detailed ↩ ↩2

  28. https://investor.costco.com/news/news-details/2024/Costco-Wholesale-Corporation-Reports-January-Sales-Results/default.aspx ↩

  29. https://docs.candid.org/990/137/137051493/137051493_2022_202313189349105451_990PF.pdf ↩

  30. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/137051493/202413209349102966/full ↩

  31. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/366939 ↩