London, England - A Church of England advisory group said Monday there were no grounds for selling the church's shares in Caterpillar Inc., which has been criticized because its bulldozers have demolished homes in Palestinian homes.
The Ethical Investment Advisory Group said "there have been no sales for some years now, and this, together with possibilities in the present delicate political negotiations, made it the wrong time to recommend disinvestment."
In April, Caterpillar shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a resolution that would have directed the U.S. heavy equipment manufacturer to investigate the use of its bulldozers by the Israeli army to demolish Palestinian homes.
Caterpillar management argued that the company had "neither the legal right nor the means to police individual use" of its equipment.
The church's investment in Caterpillar Inc. was valued at nearly 2.2 million pounds (euro3.25 million; US$4 million) at the end of December.