Registry · LUMI.TA

Does Bank Leumi support Israel?

Support documentedupdated 2026-07-30

Yes — Bank Leumi has documented support for Israel on record, including $159,000,000 in donations. Every claim below links to its source.

Filed under: Banks & financial companies · Companies that support Israel

Background

Bank Leumi is an Israeli institution, so the useful question is what it has documented doing. Its wartime record is unusually explicit for a bank: it published its own relief programme ahead of the government's, put NIS 1.25 billion of aid funds at customers' disposal, and told shareholders that relief plus donations cost it about NIS 575 million — with named beneficiaries including first-responder organisations, the Israeli police, active-duty and reserve soldiers, and the rehabilitation of Kibbutz Be'eri. Separately it runs the Jewish Agency/JFNA reservist loan fund, where the money is not Leumi's and the bank's contribution is administration and a subsidised rate. Two third-party findings run the other way on the West Bank: the UN OHCHR database has listed Leumi since 2020, and Norway's sovereign wealth fund excluded it in August 2025 over settlement-construction lending. One thing we could not verify: we found no evidence that Bank Leumi underwrote Israel Bonds or the State of Israel's international bond offerings — those documented underwriters were Western investment banks. Leumi's financing of the Israeli state runs through the domestic market and its own balance sheet, which is a different claim and is not documented here as a specific transaction.

Bank Leumi — 2023 annual results (company release) OHCHR — A/HRC/60/19 database Norges Bank Investment Management — exclusions BankTrack / PAX (Profundo) — underwriters of Israeli government bonds

Timeline of documented support

202420252023-10 — In-kind support: Israeli businesses and private customers affected by the war (bank customers)In-kind support2023-102024-03 — Operations in Israel: Israel (domestic banking operations)Operations in Israel2024-032024-03 — Donation: First-responder and aid organisations, Israeli police, active and reserve IDF soldiers, Kibbutz Be'eriDonation2024-032025-08 — Operations in Israel: Building contractors constructing and developing property in West Bank settlements, including East Jerusalem (loans and guarantees)Operations in Israel2025-082025-09 — In-kind support: Israeli military reservists (loan fund capitalised by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Jewish Federations of North America)In-kind support2025-092025-09 — Operations in Israel: Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem (banking and financial services)Operations in Israel2025-09

Documented support

TypeDateAmountRecipientSources
Operations in Israel2024-03-19—Israel (domestic banking operations)
Bank Leumi is an Israeli bank listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and Israel's second-largest lender; it describes itself as "the oldest and leading bank in Israel" and as "an anchor for the Israeli economy." It closed 2023 with net income of about NIS 7 billion ($1.93 billion) and continued to post record results through the war, including NIS 2.6 billion ($770 million) of profit in the second quarter of 2025, up 15% year-on-year. This entry records what the bank is and where it operates; it is not a donation.
In-kind support2023-10—Israeli businesses and private customers affected by the war (bank customers)
From the start of the war the bank published its own relief programme going beyond the Bank of Israel's sector-wide minimum, aimed particularly at residents of the southern and northern confrontation lines: a NIS 1 billion assistance fund providing interest-free bridging loans to small and medium businesses, a NIS 250 million fund of interest-free bridging loans for private customers, full exemption from mortgage payments and from loan repayments for eligible retail customers and small businesses, exemption from current-account fees and overdraft charges, and branch hours extended to 6:30 a.m.–11:00 p.m. Banking division head Eyal Ben-Haim said the bank deferred loan payments and gave grants to struggling businesses before government relief programmes launched. These are commercial concessions to customers, not cash grants to organisations.
Donation2024-03-19$159,000,000First-responder and aid organisations, Israeli police, active and reserve IDF soldiers, Kibbutz Be'eri
In its 2023 annual results the bank stated that the total estimated cost of the relief programmes and donations it provided to customers and the public following the war was about NIS 575 million ($159 million) — an aggregate figure covering both customer concessions and outright giving, so it should not be read as a pure donation total. On the donation side the bank said it made substantial contributions to first-responder and aid organisations serving residents of southern Israel, supported Israeli police officers and active-duty and reserve IDF soldiers, was the first Israeli business organisation to announce support for the communities attacked on 7 October 2023, committed to the rehabilitation of Kibbutz Be'eri, and funded student volunteer initiatives that harvested farmers' crops. Aid funds made available to eligible customers exceeded NIS 1.25 billion.
In-kind support2025-09—Israeli military reservists (loan fund capitalised by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Jewish Federations of North America)
Bank Leumi administers and issues the loans of a $130 million (NIS 430 million) fund for Israeli military reservists launched in September 2025. Attribution matters: the capital comes from the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Jewish Federations of North America, not from the bank; Leumi's contribution is running the scheme and lending at a subsidised fixed 2% rate. Reservists who have served more than 200 days since 7 October 2023 can borrow up to NIS 40,000 for any purpose over four years, and the fund is open to customers of any Israeli bank. Eyal Ben-Haim, head of Leumi's banking division, said: "This is the least we can do to stand by them in this challenging period we are all experiencing."
Operations in Israel2025-09-26—Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem (banking and financial services)
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights lists "Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd." as entry 18 in its database of business enterprises involved in activities linked to Israeli settlements (A/HRC/60/19, 26 September 2025, 158 enterprises from 11 countries). The listed activities recorded against the bank are (e) provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, (f) banking and financial operations helping to develop, expand or maintain settlements, including loans for housing and business development, and (g) the use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes. Leumi has been listed since the database was first published on 12 February 2020, when it appeared as "Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M." among 112 companies. This is a UN finding of "reasonable grounds to believe," recorded here with its source.
Operations in Israel2025-08-25—Building contractors constructing and developing property in West Bank settlements, including East Jerusalem (loans and guarantees)
Norges Bank excluded Bank Leumi Le-Israel BM from Norway's Government Pension Fund Global on 25 August 2025, alongside four other Israeli banks and Caterpillar, citing an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious violations of individuals' rights in war or conflict. The Council on Ethics recommendation of 2 July 2025 documented that Leumi provides loans and legally mandatory buyer-protection guarantees to contractors that build apartment buildings and develop property in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, most recently in 2024, and described those loans and guarantees as "a necessary precondition" for the construction. At the end of 2024 the fund held 0.52% of the bank's shares, worth NOK 1 billion.
Donations total$159,000,000

Frequently asked questions

Did Bank Leumi donate money to Israel or Israeli causes?

Yes. Documented donations total $159,000,000, including $159,000,000 to First-responder and aid organisations, Israeli police, active and reserve IDF soldiers, Kibbutz Be'eri. Each donation is listed on this page with its date and source.

How much has Bank Leumi given?

Documented donations total $159,000,000. The largest single recorded item is $159,000,000 to First-responder and aid organisations, Israeli police, active and reserve IDF soldiers, Kibbutz Be'eri (2024-03-19).

Where does this information come from?

Every record on this page links to its source — news reports, official company statements, tax filings, or government records. 13 distinct sources are cited for Bank Leumi. Our methodology page explains the full verification process.

Sources & citations

Record last updated: 2026-07-30

Companies with documented support