West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey co-led a 17-state coalition Tuesday in asking financial services firm Morningstar Inc., about reports that the company—through its wholly owned subsidiary, Sustainalytics—may be furthering the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
According to the letter, “BDS is an anti-Semitic campaign to intimidate the Jewish people and delegitimize the State of Israel. The movement advances these aims through academic, cultural, and economic initiatives that punish people and firms for doing business with Israel. According to the co-founder of BDS, it ‘oppose[s] a Jewish state in any part of Palestine.’ Another anti-Israel activist explained that ‘[t]here’s no Israel. . . . That’s what [BDS is] really about.’”
“The United States has no better friend in the Middle East than the state of Israel,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “The states represented in this letter stand with that nation and with the Jewish people. It is why 35 states to date, including West Virginia, have adopted laws, executive orders or resolutions in opposition to BDS. All of us must stand in unified opposition to any effort to promote it.”
At issue is Sustainalytics, a ratings and research firm that publishes its findings via a system of risk ratings that in turn influence the investment decisions of government agencies and financial managers. Rather than focusing on investment returns and other traditional financial indicators, Sustainalytics’ ratings grade companies on their purported environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) performance.
An independent analysis by a law firm of Sustainalytics found many instances where the ratings firm’s assessment of Israel was rife with BDS-like propaganda disguised as ESG assessment. Among other things, the investigation revealed that Sustainalytics had punished companies that do certain types of business with Israel, equated Israel with oppressive regimes, relied on biased data from anti-Israel organizations and assumed that all activities in certain areas of Israel advance human rights abuses.
The coalition asks Morningstar, which is currently under investigation by 18 states for these same practices, to respond to its questions about Sustainalytics’ actions by Aug. 31.
Joining the West Virginia- and Kentucky-led letter were the attorneys general from Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
Original source can be found here.