Political Audit - NatWest Group plc

Domain: Political / Communications Entity scope: NatWest Group plc and its subsidiaries (NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Coutts, Ulster Bank). UK Government residual shareholding is documented as historical shareholder-level context, attributed accordingly. Compiled: 2026-06-20 Method: Live web search only

Corporate Communications & Public Stance

No public evidence identified of NatWest Group issuing any corporate statement on the Israel–Gaza conflict, the October 2023 Hamas attacks, or a ceasefire. No spokesperson comment, CEO statement, or group-level communication addressing the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was located through live search.¹

NatWest Group has not publicly declared support for either Israel or Palestine, nor aligned itself with any government position on the conflict.¹ The bank’s only Israel/Palestine-adjacent public statements have been administrative responses to specific account-handling incidents (below), framed in procedural rather than political terms.

Operations in Occupied or Contested Territories

No public evidence identified of NatWest Group operating branches, retail services, or registered subsidiaries inside Israel, the West Bank, or Gaza.

NatWest did serve as one of eight global underwriters on a £500 million bond issuance for North Sea oil company Ithaca Energy in July 2021.² Ithaca’s Israeli parent, Tel Aviv-headquartered Delek Group, appeared on the 2020 UN list of companies whose West Bank activities “raised particular human rights concerns”; Delek reportedly owns settlement petrol stations and had contracted to supply fuel to the Israeli Ministry of Defence and the IDF.² Asked about the bond, a NatWest spokesperson stated the role “met with our policies for the sector.”² This represents indirect institutional exposure to a settlement-linked corporate group, not a direct presence in occupied territory. (Financial detail is treated in the Economic and Military audits.)

Internal Governance, Content & Retail Policies

Yad Vashem UK account closure (2024). In approximately July 2024, NatWest sent an algorithm-generated letter to Yad Vashem UK - the British branch of Israel’s national Holocaust museum - informing it that its account would be closed.² After press reporting, NatWest apologised and reversed the decision, stating it “was an administrative error” and that it would continue to bank the charity; it also made a modest donation.² The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Campaign Against Antisemitism requested a fuller explanation.² No evidence identified that the closure was politically motivated or related to NatWest’s position on the conflict; it was presented as a procedural systems error.

Cordoba Foundation / Anas Altikriti. Anas Altikriti, founder of the Cordoba Foundation, reported that NatWest and RBS closed his business accounts without notice or explanation, with donor payments rejected.³ An Al Jazeera investigation placed this among multiple banking relationships he lost across HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, Santander, and NatWest/RBS.³ No specific date for the NatWest/RBS closure was identified. No evidence publicly connects this closure to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; the reported motivation appears to be counter-terrorism-adjacent de-risking of Muslim-associated organisations more broadly.

Coutts / Farage debanking affair (2023) - context, not Israel-related. In 2023, NatWest subsidiary Coutts closed the account of Nigel Farage, citing reputational risk; CEO Dame Alison Rose resigned after admitting to leaking details to the BBC.⁴ An independent review found the decision primarily commercial and lawful but criticised NatWest’s handling. The affair is not related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, but is relevant context: it evidences NatWest’s governance posture on politicised account closures and the regulatory pressure that followed, after which NatWest committed that “lawfully protected beliefs or opinions of customers do not play any role” in account decisions.⁴

Broader Muslim-charity debanking - NatWest not specifically named. A January 2025 Muslim Charities’ Forum report documented systemic banking restrictions on Muslim-led charities (42% had accounts closed without explanation) but did not name NatWest specifically.⁵ A 2024 Al Jazeera investigation into banks’ reluctance to process Gaza-linked charity transfers did not identify NatWest by name.⁶ No specific named case of NatWest closing a Palestinian-solidarity or Gaza-aid account was identified through live search.

Brand Heritage & State Partnerships

NatWest Group (formerly Royal Bank of Scotland Group) is a UK-domiciled bank incorporated in Scotland. The UK government was previously a major shareholder following the 2008 bailout and completed its exit from the capital in 2025.⁷ This residual state relationship is attributed to the UK Government’s role as historical shareholder: the shareholding was a consequence of the financial crisis, not a political alignment with any Middle Eastern policy.

No public evidence identified of NatWest Group corporate sponsorships, branding partnerships, or institutional relationships with Israeli governmental entities, pro-Israel lobby organisations, or Palestinian organisations.

Lobbying, Advocacy, Financing & Logistics

Don’t Buy Into Occupation (2023 report). NatWest Group was identified in the 2023 DBIO coalition report as the 15th largest European financier of companies with activities in the illegal settlement enterprise, having provided approximately $3.4 billion (c. £2.5 billion) in loans and underwriting to settlement-linked businesses, per Ethical Consumer’s reporting of the coalition’s research.⁸

Interpal / Hamas-linked litigation (2005–2022). Families of victims of Hamas attacks filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in 2005, alleging under the Antiterrorism Act that NatWest knowingly provided banking services to Interpal (the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund), which the U.S. Treasury designated in August 2003.⁹ NatWest disputed the claims, noting the UK Charity Commission had cleared Interpal following its own investigation. The district court granted summary judgment dismissing the case in March 2019; the Second Circuit affirmed on 7 April 2021; and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the petition on 27 June 2022. NatWest was not found liable.⁹

Political donations / registered lobbying. No public evidence identified of NatWest Group making political donations or registering lobbying activity directed at UK governmental positions on Israel, Palestine, or the Gaza conflict.

Corporate Structure & Primary Mission

NatWest Group plc is a UK retail and commercial banking group headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. Its principal subsidiaries are National Westminster Bank plc, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Coutts & Co, and Ulster Bank. The group’s stated mission is to champion the potential of people, families, and businesses across the UK.⁷ Its primary operations are domestic UK retail, commercial, and private banking. No evidence identified of NatWest Group having structural or operational presence in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Executive & Leadership Footprint

Paul Thwaite became Group CEO of NatWest in February 2024, following the resignation of Dame Alison Rose over the Coutts/Farage affair.¹⁰ No public evidence identified of Thwaite or other current NatWest Group board members making public statements on Israel–Palestine, sitting on pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian advocacy bodies, or holding institutional connections to Israeli or Palestinian governmental, military, or political structures.

No public evidence identified of NatWest Group senior executives or publicly registered staff networks with a specific Israel- or Palestine-related political orientation.

End Notes