INDEX / DIRECTORY / JOHNSON & JOHNSON / V-ECON

Johnson & Johnson V-ECON

ECONOMIC AUDIT UPDATED 2026-06-02
V-ECON Score 6.50 /10 C Johnson & Johnson — BDS-1000 448
V-ECON 6.50

Evidence-only forensic audit. Scoring happens downstream — see the main dossier for the composite assessment.

V-ECON Audit: Johnson & Johnson

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Johnson & Johnson is a pharmaceutical and medical device corporation that, following the 2023 spin-off of its consumer health division as Kenvue Inc., no longer operates any consumer products or food-adjacent retail segment 1. No public evidence has been identified of J&J holding direct commercial procurement relationships with Israeli agricultural aggregators or exporters such as Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export, or Agrexco in produce categories including Medjool dates, avocados, citrus, fresh herbs, or potatoes 12.

No evidence has been identified of a dedicated import entity for Israeli-origin food or consumer goods within the J&J group, and J&J does not operate as a fresh produce importer in any jurisdiction 1. Procurement from Israel relates to pharmaceutical raw materials, medical device components, and R&D outputs, none of which follow produce-style seasonal sourcing windows 13.

No evidence has been identified of Israeli-origin food or consumer produce reaching J&J or Kenvue shelves via third-party distributors 1.

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

No NGO investigation — including Who Profits or Corporate Occupation project — and no DEFRA advisory, UK Trading Standards enforcement record, EU Commission labeling enforcement action, or customs audit finding identifies J&J as a retailer or importer of settlement-origin agricultural products 24.

J&J does not sell fresh or packaged produce subject to country-of-origin labeling regulations, as its products are regulated as pharmaceuticals and medical devices, none of which fall within produce-origin labeling frameworks applied to food retailers and importers 1.

No publicly stated J&J corporate policy on sourcing or labeling of goods from occupied or contested territories has been identified in any annual report, supplier standards document, or ESG disclosure reviewed 5. J&J’s supplier responsibility disclosures address labour standards and environmental requirements but do not address occupied-territory sourcing as a distinct compliance category 5.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Foreign Direct Investment — Israel: J&J acquired Israeli biopharmaceutical company Omrix for $438 million in 2008; Omrix develops biosurgical and immunotherapy products and operates as a stand-alone entity reporting through ETHICON 6. J&J participates as a corporate partner in the FutuRx biotechnology incubator near Weizmann Science Park, Rehovot, Israel, in partnership with the Office of Chief Scientist (now Israel Innovation Authority), Takeda, and OrbiMed — this constitutes a direct innovation partnership investment within Israel 78. J&J operates a life sciences incubator in Jerusalem under its global JLABS network, in formal partnership with the Jerusalem Municipality, constituting a direct real-estate and programmatic operational investment within Israel 7. J&J maintains an active R&D software development office in Yokneam, Israel, developing software for medical devices, with active hiring as of 2025 3.

J&J maintains a satellite office at Weizmann Science Park, Rehovot, involved in early-stage collaborations 7. The FutuRx incubator involves collaboration with Israel Innovation Authority (government-linked) 78.

J&J is a publicly traded US corporation (NYSE: JNJ), incorporated in New Jersey, with its largest disclosed institutional shareholders being US-domiciled asset managers — principally Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street — as reflected in SEC 13-F filings 9. No Israeli state entity, sovereign wealth fund, or Israeli-domiciled parent company holds a controlling or materially significant disclosed stake in J&J 9.

J&J’s treasury and investment schedule disclosures in its Form 10-K filings do not identify material holdings in Israeli sovereign bonds, Israeli-domiciled public companies, or Israel-focused investment funds 10. FutuRx historically involved the Office of Chief Scientist (now Israel Innovation Authority) as a partner; specific grant amounts or ongoing IIA support to J&J entities are not publicly disclosed 78.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Physical Footprint — Confirmed Israeli Locations: J-C Health Care Ltd. (Registration #512363904) is an active J&J subsidiary in Israel, incorporated in 1996, based in Shefayim (Kibbutz), serving as the operating entity for Janssen Israel 1112. JLABS @ Jerusalem operates as a life sciences incubator in Jerusalem, opened in 2019 with ongoing operations, in formal co-launch partnership with the Jerusalem Municipality 7. J&J MedTech Israel maintains an engineering/R&D office in Yokneam, Israel 3. Janssen Israel operates under J-C Health Care Ltd., located at Kibbutz Sheffayim 6099000 12.

J&J employs approximately 1,000 or more employees across Israel across four sub-companies 13. J-C Health Care Ltd. is an active Israeli-registered entity subject to Israeli corporate tax and regulatory registration requirements 11.

J&J does not characterise Israel as a named strategic growth market or regional hub in its annual reports or investor presentations 1. Israel is not broken out as a separate revenue geography in J&J’s segment disclosures — it falls within the broader “International” or “Europe, Middle East & Africa” (EMEA) reporting segment 1.

J&J added Israel to its Customer Connect list of Middle East markets following an omission controversy, confirming ongoing commercial operations in Israel as of 2024 14.

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, by Robert Wood Johnson I, James Wood Johnson, and Edward Mead Johnson, and has no Israeli founding origin 1. J&J is legally incorporated in the State of New Jersey, USA, with its operational headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey and Horsham, Pennsylvania; no dual or legacy Israeli headquarters exists 1. In 2009 J&J closed its Israel headquarters, firing approximately 20 employees including the Israeli CEO, with products continuing to be sold in Israel via distribution 1.

JLABS @ Jerusalem was opened in formal partnership with the Jerusalem Municipality, identified as a co-partner in public launch announcements, with J&J retaining operational control of the facility 7. FutuRx involves partnership with the Office of Chief Scientist (now Israel Innovation Authority), indicating state-linked benefits for the innovation ecosystem 78.

No Israeli government equity stake in J&J has been identified in any reviewed filing 9. No Israeli government board appointee or golden share arrangement has been identified 1. No designation of J&J as Israeli critical national infrastructure has been identified 1.

J&J has no governance mechanism — including golden shares, founder shares, or charter restrictions — tying its corporate mission or operational continuity to the Israeli state; J&J’s corporate charter and governance framework are governed exclusively by New Jersey corporate law 1.

Board and Executive Connections: Gilad Glick serves as VP Venture Investments at J&J Innovation, overseeing Pharma Israel and MedTech Israel and Europe investments 15. His prior role as CEO of Itamar Medical (2013-2022) does not establish defense-adjacent investments in his current J&J portfolio 151617. Amir Blatt serves as Principal, Venture Investments, based in Shefayim, Israel, overseeing MedTech investments in Europe and Israel and Pharmaceutical investments in Israel 18. Current J&J board members — Duato, Beckerle, Doudna, Hewson, Paula Johnson, Joly, McClellan, Morikis, Pinto, Weinberger, West, Woods — have no connections to Israeli defense sector identified in public searches 9.

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

J&J does not publicly disclose a standalone Israel revenue figure; Israel is consolidated within J&J’s broadly reported “International” or “EMEA” segment and is not broken out as a discrete geography in segment disclosures 1.

The direction of profit repatriation for J&J’s Israeli operations is outward — from Israeli subsidiaries (J-C Health Care Ltd., Janssen Israel, J&J MedTech Israel) to the US parent entity 1119. All Israeli subsidiaries are wholly-owned entities of the J&J group; intercompany dividends and profit transfers flow upstream to the US parent, and no Israeli-domiciled entity holds any ownership interest in J&J’s parent or global operations 1119.

Standard Israeli tax rules apply: 25-30% dividend withholding tax and 10% royalty withholding tax on intercompany flows 19.

JLABS-style incubator programmes, including J&J’s JLABS @ Jerusalem, are cited by Start-Up Nation Central and the Israel Innovation Authority as meaningful contributors to Israel’s life sciences ecosystem, providing capital access, mentorship, and commercial partnership pipelines for early-stage Israeli companies 78.

No formal Israeli government designation of J&J as a “key employer” or “sector anchor” has been identified in public records 1.

Corrected Acquisition Information: Itamar Medical Ltd. was NOT acquired by Johnson & Johnson; it was acquired by ZOLL Medical Corporation (a subsidiary of Japanese company Asahi Kasei) for $538 million, with the acquisition closing in 2022 2021.

Authoritative Database Verifications: J&J is NOT listed in the UN OHCHR Settlement Database of 158 business entities involved in settlement activity 22. J&J is NOT specifically identified in UN Special Rapporteur Report A/HRC/59/23 (Albanese, June 2025) in the corporate complicity listings 23. J&J is NOT listed in the Who Profits database of companies involved in Israeli occupation 2. J&J is NOT listed in the Don’t Buy Into Occupation (DBIO) company lists 4. J&J is NOT listed in PAX “Companies Arming Israel” report 24. J&J is NOT mentioned in SOMO reports on energy/occupation 25.

No public evidence identified regarding J&J maintaining accounts with Israeli banks (Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim) for Israeli operations 26.

No public evidence identified of J&J treasury or corporate investments in Israeli sovereign debt (Development Corporation for Israel bonds) 10.

No public evidence identified of material personal or family-office investments by J&J’s founders, executives, Chair, board, or 10% or greater shareholders into Israeli companies 9.

J&J operates manufacturing in Israel through wholly-owned subsidiaries, not solely R&D. Omrix Biopharmaceuticals conducts biomanufacturing of plasma-derived immunoglobulins at the Har Hotzvim Technology Park, West Jerusalem — a site west of the Green Line and not a settlement 1327. Biosense Webster operates a global R&D and manufacturing technology centre in Yokneam producing the CARTO cardiac electroanatomical mapping system, with approximately 600 staff 328. J&J further deepened its Israeli footprint with the 2024 acquisition of V-Wave, an Israeli structural-heart device company, for $600 million upfront and up to $1.7 billion in milestone payments 29.

End Notes

Footnotes

  1. https://www.jta.org/2009/03/23/israel/johnson-johnson-closes-israel-hq ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16

  2. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/all ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. https://www.careers.jnj.com/en/jobs/r-064901/software-engineer ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. https://dontbuyintooccupation.org ↩ ↩2

  5. https://www.jnj.com/suppliers/sustainability ↩ ↩2

  6. https://www.cravath.com/news-insights/johnson-johnson-s-acquisition-of-omrix.html ↩

  7. https://www.jnj.com/media-center/press-releases/johnson-johnson-innovation-expands-global-incubator-presence-to-israel-and-announces-multiple-diverse-early-stage-collaborations-with-academia-and-biotech ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Innovation_Authority ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  9. https://www.jnj.com/our-leadership-team ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  10. https://www.banktrack.org/news/seven_underwriters_of_war_bonds_instrumental_in_enabling_israel_s_assault_on_gaza_new_research_finds ↩ ↩2

  11. https://www.kycisrael.com/companies/512363904/j-c-health-care-ltd ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  12. https://privacyportal-de.onetrust.com/hosted-webform/consent/67ad883b-cc39-4c48-9764-d4b94a6e301e/ce44235f-15ac-4243-adce-bebb0600d039 ↩ ↩2

  13. https://www.careers.jnj.com/en/locations/emea/israel ↩ ↩2

  14. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/pharma-giant-adds-israel-list-middle-east-markets-omission-raises-questions ↩

  15. https://jnjinnovation.com/our-team/gilad-glick ↩ ↩2

  16. https://kenes-exhibitions.com/biomed/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Gilad-Glick-Short-01-2023.pdf ↩

  17. https://www.marketscreener.com/insider/GILAD-GLICK-A1MVBT ↩

  18. https://jnjinnovation.com/our-team/amir-blatt ↩

  19. https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/israel/corporate/withholding-taxes ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  20. https://www.zoll.com/en-us/about/news-and-events/press-releases/press-release/2021/09/13/zoll-medical-corporation-signs-agreement-to-acquire-itm ↩

  21. https://www.itamar-medical.com/2024/10/28/zoll-announces-closing-of-acquisition-of-itamar-medical ↩

  22. https://www.ohchr.org/en/business/bhr/database ↩

  23. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025 ↩

  24. https://paxforpeace.nl/publications/the-companies-arming-israel-and-their-financiers ↩

  25. https://www.somo.nl/beneath-troubled-waters ↩

  26. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3825?hapoalim-bank= ↩

  27. https://www.startupnationcentral.org/company/omrix-biopharmaceuticals ↩

  28. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-biosense-webster-to-expand-yokneam-rd-center-1001000000 ↩

  29. https://www.jnj.com/media-center/press-releases/johnson-johnson-completes-acquisition-of-v-wave ↩