Exclusive: Fear of political involvement in the process of appointing the chairman of Bank Leumi

The battle for the appointment to the position of chairman of the board of directors of Bank Leumi has begun, after the term of the current chairman Shmuel Ben Zvi is about to end. The appointment will expire during July. Ben Zvi, who replaced Samer Haj Yahya, ends a term of only seven months, the shortest in the bank's history. Despite this critical problem, he was elected by a majority of five directors to four. In any case, the selection of the replacement must be done before the end of the official position so that the bank is not left without a permanent chairman.

CEO of Bank Leumi: "The government must eliminate the unnecessary bureaucracy already"

"Maariv" has learned that the appointment committee of the bank directors headed by Judge Tsila Safed will meet on Sunday to recommend two new board members for the bank. Unlike previous rounds of appointments, the candidates for the position of director are not required to demonstrate qualifications for the position of chairman of the board of directors as well. The two board members who will be appointed will be part of a new round of appointments, which includes four board members (two of whom will be reappointed). Against the background of the expected appointments, the bank's management issued a statement last night The bank intends to call a general meeting, with the approval of appointments of the new directors on the agenda.

Due to the lack of clarity regarding the process and due to the tight schedule, the bank has not published a date for the meeting at this stage. However, in any case it must take place until mid-July at the latest. The bank clarified that the date will be determined as soon as possible. The meeting will be attended by institutional bodies from Israel and abroad, who are shareholders in the bank.

At least two candidates are expected to compete for the position of chairman of the board of directors. The first is attorney Etty Deutsch, who also ran in the previous round of elections in October 2023. The second candidate is lawyer Yedidia Stern, who is affiliated with religious Zionism and was part of the parties that tried to mediate between the parties in promoting legal reform.

According to estimates, Stern is interested in serving as the bank's chairman on a part-time basis (in view of his occupations at Bar-Ilan University and other occupations). However, the Bank of Israel does not allow the chairman of a bank, and certainly not like that of Bank Leumi, to serve on a part-time basis. But the concerns are that the election process will be accompanied by political interference. It is possible that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who Stern is close to in his camp, will work behind the scenes for his appointment. It is possible that at the last minute one of the current board members will decide to run as well.