Controversy
The company became the subject of newspaper coverage in 2008, for Leviev's association with the construction of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. The British Embassy in Israel was planning to move into the Kirya Tower, one of its buildings, but cancelled when these ties were revealed in the British media.[4]
In September 2009, Leviev's empire was on the verge of collapse. During the real estate bubble of the early 2000s, he had borrowed huge sums of money to acquire property around the world, including America. As American real estate prices plummeted and market values declined to less than half of what Leviev had paid for properties, so did the value of Africa Israel investments. Leviev said: "Our main mistake was the investments in the U.S."[5]
In 2009, Africa Israel's recently constructed private prison near Beersheba was banned by Israel's High Court of Justice. The prison had not yet been occupied when it was declared unconstitutional.[6]
In 2009, BlackRock divested from the company, allegedly "due to firm's involvement in West Bank settlement construction."[7]
Following campaigning by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, in January 2010 Danske Bank added Africa Israel to the list of companies that fail its Socially Responsible Investment policy; a bank spokesman noted that it was acting in the interests of its customers by not 'placing their money in companies that violate international standards'.[8] In October 2011, Africa Israel sold the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower for US$165 million, increasing its cash flow by $88 million.[9] In the third quarter 2011, Africa Israel made a NIS 148 million profit. The company recorded net gains in real estate investment for the first nine months of 2011 in the amount of NIS 712 million ($188 million), of which NIS 599 million ($159 million) were recorded in the third quarter.[10]
On 30 January 2014, the Government Pension Fund of Norway excluded Africa Israel Investments from its portfolio, citing "Serious violations of individuals' rights in situations of war or conflict."[11]
On 17 November 2014, the Cypriot AFI Development Plc, which did not file its 2012 financial results indicator report and delayed filing its 2013 financial results indicator until March 18, 2014, was fined by the Cyprus SEC for lack of transparency a violation of the section 13 (1) Law.[12]
