Volvo Group (AB Volvo)
A Swedish-based, multinational public company, which manufactures trucks, buses, construction equipment and marine and industrial engines.
In June 2022, the Israeli Ministry of Defense responded to a Freedom of Information request submitted by Who Profits, which noted that between the years 2017-2021, it purchased NIS 28,104,830.98 worth of services from Volvo’s Israeli distributor, Meyers Cars and Trucks, for Volvo equipment, including Volvo vehicles, Volvo spare parts and the maintenance of existing Volvo equipment in the ministry’s use.
Home Demolitions:
The Volvo Group provides heavy machinery used for the demolition of Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, construction of Israeli settlements and construction of the Separation Wall.
In 2021, Volvo wheel loaders were documented in a demolition of a water well and agricultural walls in the Palestinian village Khalet Alfurn, east of Hebron. Additionally, in 2021 the wheel loaders were used by the Israeli Army in destroying roads between several Palestinian villages near Tayaseer village in the Jordan Valley in occupied West Bank. The wheel loaders were also used to move cement blocks used to block the entrance to the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah where families are facing the threat of forced displacement, in occupied East Jerusalem.
In 2012, in the South Hebron Hills area, Volvo wheel loaders were used to demolish houses in the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khayr and to block roads. Volvo track excavators and wheel loaders were also used for house demolitions in the Palestinian neighborhoods of Issawiya in 2009, Beit Hanina in 2008 and Tzur Baher in 2007. In addition to demolitions in previous years in Silwan, Wadi Qaddum and Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem.
Volvo Group excavators and loaders were also used for the demolition of houses of Palestinian citizens of Israel inside the Green Line. In 2022, Volvo’s wheel loaders were documented in the demolitions of tents in the Palestinian Bedouin village of Sa’aua and other demolitions in Palestinian villages in the Naqab (Negev) desert. In 2010, Volvo heavy machinery was used in multiple demolitions in the city of Lod. In addition, the company’s wheel loaders were used in numerous attempts to evict the Bedouin community of Al-Araqib from its land in the Naqab.
Settlement construction:
In previous years, the company’s equipment was used for the construction of the Har Gilo settlement and the Barkan Industrial Zone. Volvo trucks were used for the construction of the Huwwara checkpoint in 2008, Route 443 (a West Bank Road for Israelis only) and the Separation Wall near the Palestinian village of Al-Walaja.
The Volvo Group supplied maintenance trucks to the Jerusalem Light Rail project, which connects settlements in occupied East Jerusalem to one another and to the western part of the city.
Other involvements:
Volvo Buses, a subsidiary of the Volvo Group, owns 26.5% of Merkavim, which supplies armored buses for Egged lines in the occupied Palestinian territory. Merkavim’s remaining shares are held by Mayer’s Cars and Trucks, which is the exclusive distributor of Volvo in Israel.
Volvo Group buses are also used by the Central Company for the Development of Samaria and the Company for the Development of the Binyamin Council in the West Bank, for transportation services to the settlements. The Samaria Regional Council also owns and operates a Volvo licensed garage. Two additional Volvo certified garages operate in the occupied Palestinian territory, in the industrial zones of Mishor Adumim and Atarot.
In 2013, in a response to a freedom of information request by Who Profits, the Israel Prison Service confirmed that the Volvo Group and its subsidiary Merkavim provide services to the Israel Prison Service, including buses for the transportation of prisoners.
In February 2016, Volvo trucks were used by the Israeli Civil Administration and the Israeli military to confiscate solar panels in Khirbet Jebnah. In April 2015, a Volvo truck was documented in the confiscation of 12 solar panels belonging to Khan al-Ahmar by the Israeli Civil Administration and Border Police. In both cases, the solar panels, provided by humanitarian aid organizations, were the community’s sole source of electricity.
Company Response
Dear Madam/Sir,
Thank you for your email.
The sale of our trucks, buses, construction equipment and other products in Israel is via our private importer.
The sale of these products is not targeted towards any specific areas.
Our products have a long-life span and may be rented out and change ownership many times during their life cycle and we are limited in our possibilities to influence how and where our products will be used throughout their entire life cycle by different end users.
With best regards,
AB Volvo
Corporate Responsiblity
Gropegårdsgatan 2 | SE-405 08 Göteborg | Sweden
volvogroup.com
Volvo Response
