Military Audit: JPMorgan Chase

Direct Defence Contracting & Procurement

No public evidence identified of any direct contract, tender award, framework agreement, or memorandum of understanding between JPMorgan Chase and Israel’s Ministry of Defense, the IDF, the Israel Prison Service, or the Israel Border Police. The clearest documented financial relationship with the Israeli state is JPMorgan’s designation, announced by Israel’s Finance Ministry in December 2019, as a primary dealer in Israel’s government bonds ¹². That role has continued into the present war period: JPMorgan is named as one of seven underwriting banks - alongside Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Citi, and Barclays - behind $19.4 billion in Israeli sovereign bond issuances between 7 October 2023 and January 2025 that researchers have characterized as “war bonds” ³⁴⁵. JPMorgan was also one of six international underwriters, alongside Citi, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, and Goldman Sachs, of Bank Hapoalim’s $2 billion overseas bond sale priced on 8 January 2026 ⁶. Separately from its underwriting role, JPMorgan’s own market analysts have published Israel-focused risk commentary: in 2023 the firm warned of growing risk to investing in Israel amid judicial-overhaul plans ⁷⁸, and it subsequently cut its Israeli growth outlook as Citi warned of further sovereign rating downgrades ⁹. No public evidence identified of a SIBAT (Israel’s Defence Export and Defence Cooperation Directorate) directory listing for JPMorgan Chase.

Dual-Use Products & Tactical Variants

No public evidence identified. JPMorgan Chase is a financial-services firm and does not manufacture or market ruggedised, mil-spec, or tactical hardware product lines, and No public evidence identified of export-licence applications, end-user certificates, or export-control reviews concerning JPMorgan products destined for Israeli security end-users.

Heavy Machinery, Construction & Infrastructure

No public evidence identified of JPMorgan-owned or -operated construction or demolition equipment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, at the separation barrier, or at Israeli military installations, and No public evidence identified of JPMorgan construction or engineering contracts for checkpoints, detention facilities, military bases, the barrier, or settlement infrastructure.

Supply Chain Integration with Defence Primes

JPMorgan’s documented relationship with Israeli defence prime Elbit Systems is exclusively financial and investment-based rather than industrial or supply-chain in nature ^10111213. SEC 13F filings tracked by Progressive.org show JPMorgan’s Elbit Systems equity position rising from 180,770 shares in Q2 2023 to a peak of 253,678 shares (approximately $54 million) in Q4 2023, before a roughly 70% quarterly reduction to 76,567 shares (approximately $16 million) in Q1 2024 and a rebound to 152,089 shares (approximately $26 million) in Q2 2024 ¹⁰. As of 12 May 2025, reporting indicated JPMorgan had cut its Elbit stake by over 53% from its prior high while still holding shares valued at more than $22 million ¹¹. A subsequent filing reported the sale of 109,874 Elbit shares on 27 February 2026, leaving a residual holding of 83,687 shares worth approximately $39.6 million ¹³. On the research side, JPMorgan equity analyst Seth Seifman initiated coverage of Elbit Systems (NASDAQ: ESLT) with a Neutral rating on 30 September 2025 ¹², and JPMorgan subsequently raised its price target on Elbit from $930 to $950 while maintaining the Neutral rating as of 27 May 2026 ¹⁴. No public evidence identified of joint development, co-production, or technology-transfer agreements between JPMorgan and any Israeli defence prime. JPMorgan elected Phebe N. Novakovic to its Board of Directors in 2020 ¹⁵; Novakovic is Chairman and CEO of General Dynamics, a U.S. defence prime ¹⁶, and has been identified in analysis of individual arms-executive wealth generation tied to arms sales including to Israel and Gulf states ¹⁷. Beyond Elbit, JPMorgan has also held equity positions in other non-Israeli arms primes whose products are supplied to Israel - including Boeing, General Dynamics, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, and RTX Corporation - per a bank-holdings analysis in the Centre Delàs “Armed Banking” report ¹⁸¹⁹²⁰.

Logistical Sustainment & Base Services

No public evidence identified of JPMorgan catering, transport, fuel, waste-management, facilities-maintenance, or telecommunications service contracts to IDF bases, training facilities, or detention centres in the West Bank, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the Negev, or elsewhere, and No public evidence identified of JPMorgan shipping, freight, or port-handling contracts servicing Israeli military cargo or arms shipments.

Munitions, Weapons Systems & Strategic Platforms

No public evidence identified of JPMorgan acting as a manufacturer, prime, or licensed producer of any lethal or strategic platform, of JPMorgan supplying munitions, ordnance, propellants, or precursor materials, or of JPMorgan supplying guidance electronics, fire-control, radar, propulsion, or warhead-casing sub-systems. The firm’s only documented connection to strategic-platform manufacturers is financial: equity holdings in Boeing, General Dynamics, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, and RTX Corporation, as identified in the Centre Delàs “Armed Banking” report’s analysis of bank holdings in arms companies supplying Israel ¹⁸¹⁹²⁰.

Export Licensing, Regulatory & Legal History

No public evidence identified of any export-licence grant, denial, suspension, or revocation decision, in any jurisdiction, concerning JPMorgan products to Israeli military or security end-users. The one documented regulatory enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. is unrelated to Israel: OFAC settled with the bank for $5,263,171 on 5 October 2018 over 87 apparent violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, and Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations, arising from the processing of approximately $1 billion in transactions via state-owned airlines ²¹. No public evidence identified of court proceedings or judicial review specifically naming JPMorgan Chase over its Israel defence-supply or financial relationship.

Civil Society Scrutiny & Documented Investigations

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre named JPMorgan Chase among companies invited on 3 July 2024 to respond to a UN experts’ urgent call, issued 11 July 2024, for companies and investors to cease arms transfers to Israel; JPMorgan did not respond ²². PAX, BankTrack, and Profundo’s June 2024 investigation “The Companies Arming Israel and Their Financiers” named JPMorgan among the seven banks underwriting the $19.4 billion in Israeli sovereign “war bonds” issued between 7 October 2023 and January 2025, with Goldman Sachs’ share separately reported at more than $7 billion while JPMorgan’s individual tranche was not disaggregated in available sources ³⁴²³⁵; a February 2025 Follow the Money article reported that JPMorgan did not respond to its request for comment ⁵. The Centre Delàs “Armed Banking” report (November 2024), as summarized by Ethical Consumer, ranked JPMorgan sixth among the top 100 international banks financing arms companies with Gaza-linked exports and described it as maintaining “no or very limited restrictions on financing weapons and military” beyond exclusion of the most controversial weapons systems ¹⁸¹⁹²⁰. AFSC Investigate maintains a company profile for JPMorgan Chase & Co. within its divestment-research database, last validated 16 April 2024 ²⁴. An In These Times investigation of tax records covering 2001–2016 found that JPMorgan Chase Foundation, jointly with Verizon, Pfizer, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and American Express, gave over $25,000 to U.S. nonprofits (One Israel Fund, Central Fund of Israel) that fund West Bank settlement activity, over $48,000 to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, and a further approximately $1,000 to American Friends of Elon Moreh supporting the Elon Moreh settlement; JPMorgan did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment ²⁵. Palestine Action targeted JPMorgan’s Edinburgh premises on 26 June 2024 over its Elbit Systems investment ²⁶²⁷, and targeted JPMorgan’s London office on 16 May 2025, smashing glass doors and covering the site in red paint while citing the firm’s Elbit shareholding (then valued at more than $22 million) and stating actions would continue “until they end their ties to Elbit Systems” ¹¹. JPMorgan committed $1.5 million in philanthropic funding for humanitarian relief following 7 October 2023 and pledged to match employee donations dollar-for-dollar to “select organizations,” though the firm’s own press release did not name the eligible organizations ²⁸. No public evidence identified of any JPMorgan policy change, contract termination, or end-use-monitoring commitment specifically responsive to Israel-arms civil-society campaigns; the firm is documented as not responding to at least three separate researcher or NGO outreach attempts ²²⁵²⁵. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon publicly warned on 13 October 2023 that the Israel-Hamas conflict “may have far-reaching impacts” on the global economy ²⁹³⁰, and the firm circulated an internal memo, reported on 18 October 2023, offering business leaders guidance on navigating the war ³¹. JPMorganChase’s Center for Geopolitics, launched in May 2025, subsequently published a report titled “A New Middle East Chessboard” as part of a broader effort to help clients navigate geopolitical risk ³²³³³⁴. A review of the OHCHR database of business enterprises pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 31/36 and 53/25, including its 2023 update PDF and an OpenSanctions dataset mirror, did not identify JPMorgan Chase by name in the sections reviewed, and a September 2025 OHCHR press release confirming a database update did not itself indicate a JPMorgan-specific listing ^35363738. No public evidence identified that JPMorgan Chase is listed in the OHCHR settlement database, though this is flagged as an evidence gap given the limits of the search tools used rather than a confirmed clean result. Al-Haq’s “Business and Human Rights” advocacy hub was reviewed and contains no JPMorgan-specific dossier, instead covering the World Bank, Eni, WSP Global, and the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global ³⁹. No public evidence identified of an Al-Haq JPMorgan-specific investigation. Don’t Buy Into Occupation’s “Report 2025,” which carries a foreword by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, was identified as a potentially relevant coalition report, though its full content could not be extracted for JPMorgan-specific findings ⁴⁰. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide” (A/HRC/59/23, 2 July 2025) was reviewed for company-level references, but no JPMorgan-specific citation could be confirmed within available search results ⁴¹. No public evidence identified of JPMorgan Chase being named directly in the Special Rapporteur’s report, though this too is flagged as an evidence gap requiring direct full-text search of the underlying document.

End Notes