OSLO, Norway — Norway’s prime minister said on Friday he had contacted US Senator Lindsey Graham to try to defuse a controversy over a decision by the Norwegian sovereign fund to sell all its shares in construction equipment group Caterpillar on ethics grounds.

Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, said on Monday it had divested from Caterpillar over ethical concerns due to the company’s supply to Israel of bulldozers used in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Caterpillar did not comment on the wealth fund’s move.

Graham, an ally of US President Donald Trump, said on Thursday that Norway should reconsider its decision or risk facing new American trade tariffs on its exports or have visa travel restrictions imposed on the fund’s managers.

“Your decision to punish Caterpillar, an American company, because Israel uses their product is beyond offensive,” Graham wrote on X. “I would urge you to reconsider your shortsighted decision,” he later........

© The Times of Israel