Delek Group
Israeli energy holding company: controlling shareholder of London-listed Ithaca Energy; listed in the UN database of businesses involved in Israeli settlements since 2020
| Delek Group Ltd
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Israeli company (number 520044322 on the Companies House register for Ithaca Energy plc) |
| Industry | Oil and gas exploration and production; fuel retail and agriculture holdings |
Delek Group Ltd is an Israeli energy holding company. Its largest holding in the UK is a controlling stake in Ithaca Energy plc, an oil and gas producer listed in London with operations on the UK Continental Shelf; the group's own annual report for 2024 gives its indirect holding in Ithaca as about 52.2%.[1][2] Delek Group has been named in each edition of the database of business enterprises that the UN human rights office maintains in connection with Israeli settlements since 2020; the company denies that it has any business in settlements and says it was wrongly included.[3][4][5][6]
Ownership and structure
- Controlling shareholder. Delek Group's 2024 annual report says that its controlling shareholder is Yitzhak Tshuva, who holds "approx. 50.12% of the Company's issued capital and voting interests, through companies under his control".[1]
- Ithaca Energy plc. The report says that Delek Group holds about 52.2% of Ithaca's shares and voting interests indirectly through DKL Investments Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary, and that Eni UK Limited holds about 37.2% following the business combination completed on 2 October 2024.[1] The Companies House register of persons with significant control for Ithaca Energy plc lists Delek Group Ltd (an Israeli company, registration number 520044322, notified 15 October 2019, more than 50% but less than 75% of the shares and votes) and Eni UK Limited (notified 3 October 2024, more than 25% but not more than 50%).[2] The company's UK business is described on the Ithaca Energy plc page.
- Segments. The report describes three operating segments: energy in Israel, mainly through its holding of about 54.18% of the participation units of the NewMed Energy partnership (which holds interests in the Leviathan reservoir in Israel and the Aphrodite reservoir in Cyprus); foreign energy, through Ithaca; and other activities, including about 53.47% of the agricultural group Mehadrin, about 24.75% of Delek Israel (fuel and gas stations in Israel) and about 24.18% of Delek Properties.[1] The Ferret reported in October 2026 that Delek Group's holding in Delek Israel had fallen to just under 20% and that its stake in Mehadrin was 61%.[6]
Listing in the United Nations settlements database
Delek Group Ltd appears, with Israel as its home State, in each edition of the database that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights maintains of business enterprises involved in the activities listed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission on Israeli settlements: entry 27 in the 2020 report,[3] entry 45 in the 2025 update,[4] and entry 53 in annex I of the update of 25 September 2026, each time under activities (e) and (g); in 2026 the type of involvement is given as "Direct linkage".[5] The report defines (e) as "the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport" and (g) as "the use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes".[5] The annex gives only the activity codes, the home State and the type of involvement for each entry, and the report says its work "does not purport to constitute a judicial or quasi-judicial process of any kind, nor does it provide any legal characterisation" of the listed activities.[5]
Delek Group's response
A Delek Group spokesperson told The Ferret that the company has "no business or operations whatsoever in Israeli settlements", that "Delek Group has been wrongly included in the UN database", and that "together with our legal advisers, we intend to formally challenge this and request the immediate removal of our name from the database". The spokesperson also said that Ithaca Energy "is an independent UK-incorporated and London-listed company, with its own board and management" and that dividends from Ithaca are "ordinary distributions to shareholders arising from Ithaca Energy's commercial operations".[6]
Links to the UK
Ithaca dividends
The Ferret reported in October 2026 that Ithaca announced dividends of almost £200 million in August 2026, that Delek Group's share was just under £100 million and was paid on 24 September 2026, and that its own analysis found Ithaca paid £786 million in dividends to Delek Group between 2020 and April 2026.[6] Delek Group's spokesperson said these distributions are unrelated to the matters in the UN database.[6]
Rosebank
The Ferret reported that Ithaca holds a 20% stake in the Rosebank oil field, that WWF Norway estimated a further £220 million could flow to Delek through that stake if the project goes ahead, and that the Court of Session ruled in January 2025 that the UK Government's approval of Rosebank, granted on 27 September 2023, was unlawful because it did not account for the emissions from burning the field's oil; the developers have resubmitted plans.[6] The same article reports that Uplift and Greenpeace asked the Prime Minister to clarify whether Delek would be affected by sanctions announced by the UK Government on 8 September 2026, and that Amnesty International's Scotland programme director said that approving Rosebank "would fly in the face not just of the UK's climate commitments but its international human rights obligations".[6]
UK settlement sanctions
According to The Ferret, the UK Foreign Secretary announced on 8 September 2026 that Britain would introduce sanctions on goods from the occupied West Bank and measures to "take action against specific companies" providing services for settlement expansion. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson declined to comment on "whether particular persons or entities may be designated in the future". Delek Group's spokesperson said "the proposed sanctions have not been enacted and should not apply to the group".[6] No designation of Delek Group was found in the sources read for this page.
Delek Israel Fuel
Who Profits, a research organisation that documents business involvement in the Israeli occupation, states in its profile of Delek Israel Fuel Company Ltd that the company operates 14 gas stations and 10 convenience stores in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan, including in named settlements, and that in 2020 Delek Israel, together with Sonol, won a tender for refuelling services for the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Israeli military.[7] It gives Delek Petroleum Ltd, "a fully owned subsidiary of Delek Group", as holding 24.75% of the company.[7] The Ferret reports that the military refuelling contract was renewed in 2024, increasing in value by a further £130 million, and says it found stations in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan using the company's station locator; it notes that the Israeli Government disputes claims that settlements in these areas are illegal.[6] Delek Group says it has no business or operations in settlements.[6]
Identification and limits
Delek Group Ltd is an Israeli-registered company and is not a UK-incorporated company; it is included here because of its control of Ithaca Energy plc and because the UN database entries name it. The group's own Who Profits profile, the OHCHR database page and the group's own response to the 2026 listing could not be read for this page. Holdings are as at the date of each source (the annual report for 2024, the Companies House register as read on 11 November 2026, and The Ferret of 18 October 2026) and differ between them.
See also
- Ithaca Energy plc
- Yitzhak Tshuva
- Who Profits
- UK Companies with documented links to business activity in the Occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied Golan
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Delek Group Ltd, Annual Report 2024 (Chapter A, "Corporate Description", sections 1.1 and 1.2; holdings are stated "as of the report publication date"), accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Companies House, Ithaca Energy plc (12263719): persons with significant control, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 United Nations Human Rights Council, Database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission (report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), A/HRC/43/71, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 United Nations Human Rights Council, Database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission (report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), A/HRC/60/19, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 United Nations Human Rights Council, Database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission (report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), A/HRC/63/20, 25 September 2026, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 Karin Goodwin and Paul Dobson, The UK is targeting firms linked to illegal Israeli settlements. One is still receiving millions from North Sea oil, The Ferret, 18 October 2026, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Who Profits, Delek Israel Fuel Company Ltd. (company profile), accessed 11 November 2026.