Bank Leumi
A major Israeli commercial bank with roots in the Zionist movement's early financial institutions.
Last updated October 15, 2026
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Overview
Bank Leumi is one of Israel's principal banking institutions and one of the country's largest commercial banks. Its origins date to the creation of the Jewish Colonial Trust in London in 1899, a financial vehicle established by members of the Zionist movement to support Jewish settlement and economic development in Palestine. The trust's operating subsidiary in Palestine, the Anglo-Palestine Company, began banking operations in Jaffa in 1902 and opened its first branch there in 1903. In its early decades, the institution financed land purchases, imports, agricultural activity, infrastructure, and industrial development. It provided long-term credit to farmers and extended financing to Ahuzat Bayit, the association associated with the development of the first neighborhood of what became Tel Aviv. Its branch network expanded to Jerusalem, Beirut, Hebron, Safed, Haifa, Tiberias, and Gaza. During the First World War, the Ottoman authorities treated the England-registered institution as an enemy entity and attempted to close it and confiscate its funds. After the war, the bank resumed expansion, moved its principal branch from Jaffa to Jerusalem in 1932, and helped finance industries producing supplies for the British military during the Second World War. Following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the bank received a concession to issue the country's new banknotes. It adopted the name Bank Leumi le-Israel in 1950. When the Bank of Israel was established in 1954, Leumi ceased to perform central-bank functions and became a commercial bank. Its activities subsequently broadened into retail banking, corporate and commercial finance, private banking, capital-markets services, international banking, and digital financial services. In 1971 it acquired Arab Israel Bank, which served primarily Arab citizens in northern Israel and the Triangle region. The bank was nationalized by the Israeli government in 1983 during the Bank Stock Crisis. It was later privatized, and the government ceased to be its controlling owner, although the state was described in historical sources as retaining a significant single shareholding during the 2000s. The bank's shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and are widely held by public investors and institutional shareholders. Leumi developed an international network through subsidiaries, branches, and representative offices. Its overseas businesses included private banking in Switzerland and Luxembourg, commercial banking in the United Kingdom and Romania, and operations or representative activity in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Several of these businesses were later reduced or sold. In 2011 it acquired Banque Safdie in Geneva and subsequently combined it with Bank Leumi Switzerland to create Leumi Private Bank. In 2014 Bank Julius Baer acquired Leumi's Luxembourg private-banking business and took over clients from Leumi Private Bank. Bank Leumi USA was sold to Valley National Bank in 2022 in a transaction reported as involving cash and stock. Today, Bank Leumi focuses principally on the Israeli market. Its services cover households, small and medium-sized businesses, large corporations, institutional customers, and high-net-worth clients. The brand is positioned as a full-service Israeli bank combining a broad domestic franchise with technological and digital banking capabilities. Its history also gives it an unusual institutional role in Israel: it began as a financing mechanism for the Zionist enterprise, became involved in the economic construction of pre-state Palestine, served as a note-issuing institution immediately after independence, and later evolved into a privately owned publicly traded bank.
History
Bank Leumi's institutional lineage begins with the Jewish Colonial Trust, established in London in 1899 after the Second Zionist Congress. The trust was intended to provide a financial foundation for the Zionist movement's plans for Jewish settlement and economic development in Palestine. Although its capital and practical reach were much smaller than the ambitions described by Theodor Herzl, it became an important precursor to the financial infrastructure that supported the later Yishuv and the State of Israel. In 1902 the trust established the Anglo-Palestine Company as its subsidiary for operations in Palestine. The company opened its first branch in Jaffa in 1903 under the management of Zalman David Levontin. Its early business included land transactions, imports, agricultural finance, and the extension of credit for infrastructure and construction. The institution financed long-term loans for farmers and supported the Ahuzat Bayit association, which developed the neighborhood that became the nucleus of Tel Aviv. Additional branches were opened in Jerusalem, Beirut, Hebron, Safed, Haifa, Tiberias, and Gaza. The bank faced political and operational disruption during the First World War. Because it was registered in England, Ottoman authorities classified it as an enemy institution and sought to shut it down and seize its cash. After the war, its activities resumed and expanded. In 1932 the main branch moved from Jaffa to Jerusalem. During the Second World War, the Anglo-Palestine Bank helped finance industries producing supplies for the British army. The creation of Israel transformed the institution's role. In 1948 it received a concession to issue the new state's banknotes. In 1950 it was renamed Bank Leumi le-Israel, meaning National Bank of Israel. The establishment of the Bank of Israel in 1954 ended Leumi's role as a note-issuing and quasi-central banking institution, leaving it as a commercial bank. The bank subsequently developed a broad domestic franchise across personal, business, corporate, and institutional banking. In 1971 Leumi acquired Arab Israel Bank, an institution established in 1960 that primarily served Arab citizens in northern Israel and the Triangle region. The acquisition expanded Leumi's reach in communities that had been less fully served by the country's major banking institutions. The Israeli government nationalized Bank Leumi in 1983 following the Bank Stock Crisis. The bank was later returned to private ownership through a privatization process. By the 2000s, its shares were publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and held by the public, institutional investors, and major private shareholders. Historical accounts describe the government as the largest single shareholder at one stage, without making it the bank's controlling owner. Leumi also built an international network. Its overseas activities included Bank Leumi USA, Bank Leumi UK, Bank Leumi Romania, Leumi Private Bank in Switzerland, Bank Leumi Luxembourg, Leumi Latin America in Uruguay, and representative offices in Canada and other markets. The international business later underwent consolidation. The bank acquired Banque Safdie in Geneva in 2011, combined it with its Swiss operation in 2012, and sold its Luxembourg private-banking assets to Bank Julius Baer in 2014. The Melbourne representative office was closed in 2013. In 2022 Valley National Bank acquired Bank Leumi USA. The institution has also faced substantial controversy. In 2011 it agreed to pay 130 million new Israeli shekels following a state inquiry into dormant accounts connected with Holocaust victims, while denying wrongdoing. In 2014 it entered a U.S. deferred prosecution agreement concerning offshore accounts and paid a reported $270 million penalty. More recently, its alleged or documented financial links to Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank generated criticism from the United Nations, pension funds, and divestment campaigns. These episodes illustrate the regulatory, ethical, and geopolitical risks associated with operating a major bank across contested jurisdictions. Bank Leumi remains an active publicly listed Israeli bank. Its present identity is principally domestic, even though the brand retains international capabilities and historical connections. It provides consumer and business accounts, lending, mortgages, deposits, payments, investment and capital-markets services, private banking, foreign exchange, and digital banking. Its Jerusalem branches also include architecturally significant buildings, including the Jaffa Road main branch designed by Erich Mendelsohn and a Rehavia branch associated with Leopold Krakauer.
- 2022
Bank Leumi USA sold to Valley National Bank
[1]Valley National Bank acquired Bank Leumi USA in a cash-and-stock transaction.
- 2014
Transfers Luxembourg private-banking business to Julius Baer
[1]Bank Julius Baer acquired Leumi's Luxembourg private-banking assets and took over clients from Leumi Private Bank.
- 2012
Forms Leumi Private Bank
[1]Banque Safdie was combined with Bank Leumi Switzerland to form Leumi Private Bank.
- 2011
Acquires Banque Safdie
[1]Leumi acquired the Geneva-based private bank Banque Safdie.
- 1983
Nationalized during the Bank Stock Crisis
[1]The Israeli government nationalized the bank during the financial crisis affecting Israeli bank shares.
- 1971
Acquires Arab Israel Bank
[1]Leumi acquired Arab Israel Bank, which mainly served Arab citizens in northern Israel and the Triangle region.
- 1954
Becomes a commercial bank
[1]The creation of the Bank of Israel ended Leumi's note-issuing role and established it as a commercial bank.
- 1950
Renamed Bank Leumi le-Israel
[1]The bank adopted the name Bank Leumi le-Israel.
- 1948
Receives Israeli banknote-issuance concession
[1]After Israel was established, the bank received a concession to issue the country's new banknotes.
- 1932
Main branch moves to Jerusalem
[1]The principal branch was transferred from Jaffa to Jerusalem.
Products and positioning
A leading full-service Israeli bank serving retail, business, corporate, institutional, and private-banking customers, with a historically important international and Zionist-finance legacy.
Consumer finance
Retail banking
Bank Leumi serves individual customers through current and savings accounts, payment services, consumer credit, mortgages, foreign exchange, and digital banking. Its retail franchise is a core part of the bank's Israeli operations and is supported by online and mobile channels as well as physical branches.
Commercial finance
Business and commercial banking
The bank provides financing and transaction services to small businesses, medium-sized enterprises, and commercial customers. Typical services include working-capital facilities, loans, deposits, payments, trade finance, guarantees, and foreign-exchange services.
Corporate finance
Corporate banking
Leumi's corporate business supports large companies and institutions through lending, structured finance, cash management, capital-markets services, investment banking, and other financial solutions. The bank historically played a significant role in financing industrial and infrastructure development in Israel.
Wealth management
Private banking
Leumi has provided wealth-management and private-banking services in Israel and through overseas operations. Its international private-banking footprint was later consolidated, including the sale of the Luxembourg business to Bank Julius Baer.
Financial technology
Digital banking
Digital channels allow customers to manage accounts, payments, transfers, credit, and other banking functions remotely. Digital service is part of Leumi's contemporary positioning as a technology-oriented full-service bank.
Controversies
2026
Bank Leumi sues Meta over scam ads
Bank Leumi filed a lawsuit against Meta in Tel Aviv District Court, seeking NIS 26.6 million. The bank alleges that fraudulent advertisements impersonating it on Facebook and Instagram are used to steal customers' sensitive information and access their accounts. It further claims that Meta's screening and monitoring systems are insufficient to detect and prevent these scams.
2021
KLP divestment over settlement links
Norway's largest pension fund, KLP, announced divestment from Bank Leumi and other companies named in connection with settlement activity.
2020
United Nations database on settlement-related business
The United Nations listed Bank Leumi in a database of companies involved in services, banking, or financial operations linked to the maintenance or development of Israeli settlements in occupied territories.
2017
Danish pension exclusion over West Bank operations
Sampension barred investment in Bank Leumi, citing the bank's connection to business activity involving Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
2014
U.S. offshore-account tax case
The bank entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, acknowledging a conspiracy to conceal assets and income in offshore accounts. The resolution included a reported $270 million penalty and the disclosure of more than 1,500 account holders.
2011
Holocaust-related dormant accounts controversy
A state inquiry examined dormant accounts associated with Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Bank Leumi denied wrongdoing but agreed to pay 130 million new Israeli shekels after the inquiry alleged that a larger amount was held in thousands of dormant accounts and criticized the bank's cooperation.
Marketing campaigns
- 2023Pablo Rosenberg and Gal Toren presenter campaign
Israel
Bank Leumi began using Pablo Rosenberg and Gal Toren as presenters in its brand communications.
Outcome. The presenters became associated with the bank's public-facing marketing during the period identified in the source.
Brand decisions
2022
Sell Bank Leumi USA to Valley National BankM&ABackground
Leumi continued to streamline its international banking portfolio.
Action taken
Valley National Bank acquired Bank Leumi USA for reported consideration of $1.2 billion in cash and stock.
Aftermath
Bank Leumi exited direct ownership of its U.S. banking subsidiary.
Reported transaction value. $1.2 billion (2022)
2014
Sell Luxembourg private-banking assets to Julius BaerM&ABackground
Leumi reorganized its international private-banking operations.
Action taken
Bank Julius Baer purchased Bank Leumi Luxembourg's private-banking assets, while Leumi transferred clients of Leumi Private Bank.
Aftermath
The transaction reduced Leumi's direct exposure to parts of the European private-banking market.
2013
Close Melbourne representative officeStrategyBackground
Leumi reviewed the scope of its international network.
Action taken
The bank closed its representative office in Melbourne, Australia.
Aftermath
The closure formed part of a broader reduction and reorganization of selected overseas activities.
2011
Acquire Banque SafdieM&ABackground
Leumi sought to expand and consolidate its international private-banking activities.
Action taken
The bank acquired Geneva-based Banque Safdie for a reported CHF 143 million.
Aftermath
The acquired business was later combined with Bank Leumi Switzerland to create Leumi Private Bank.
Acquisition price. CHF 143 million (2011)
Recent events
- Unconfirmed
Bank Leumi sues Meta for NIS 26.6 million over scam ads[3]
Bank Leumi filed a NIS 26.6 million lawsuit against Meta in Tel Aviv District Court, alleging that fraudulent advertisements impersonating the bank on Facebook and Instagram are used to steal customers' sensitive information and access their accounts, and that Meta's screening and monitoring systems are insufficient to detect and prevent the scams.
Leumi reports fourth-quarter and 2020 annual results[4]
Reported:
Bank Leumi reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 financial results. Net income for 2020 was NIS 2,102 million, down from NIS 3,522 million in 2019.
Sources4 sources
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