Lebanese Lawyers File Complaint Against Banker for Meeting With Israeli PM

On Wednesday, more than a dozen Lebanese lawyers lodged a complaint with the Beirut prosecutor’s office against a local banker, accusing him of breaching national laws by meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington this week.

For the first time in decades, Lebanon and Israel have engaged in US-backed direct talks over the past three months. The aim of these discussions is to end the recent hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed political-military group, in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese law prohibits citizens from having contact with Israelis, considering the two nations have been in a state of war since Israel’s founding in 1948. Violators may face imprisonment.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid shared a photo on X showing banker Antoun Sehnaoui dining with Netanyahu and his wife, Sara. Ravid noted that Sehnaoui and former US envoy Morgan Ortagus hosted a Monday dinner in memory of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, attended by the Israeli prime minister and US officials. Details of the gathering, described as a ‘special dinner’, were also reported on a website linked to Sehnaoui, This is Beirut.

Sehnaoui’s legal representative in Beirut has not yet addressed requests for comment. The complaint states that Sehnaoui committed ‘offenses of contacting and dealing with the Israeli enemy, violating the boycott law against Israel, treason, and crimes against state security’.

Two of the lawyers who filed the complaint told The Associated Press that the Sehnaoui-Netanyahu meeting took place while Israeli military actions against Lebanon were ongoing. The conflict reignited two days after joint Israeli and US attacks on Iran, leading Hezbollah to fire at Israel, which retaliated with airstrikes and ground forces. Over 4,000 people have died in Lebanon, and Israel continues to occupy several villages. The two countries recently agreed on a framework agreement.

Lawyer Hassan Bazzi stated Sehnaoui violated the law and offended national sentiments. He emphasized the lawyers’ hope that the prosecutor’s office will act ‘efficiently and swiftly’. Another lawyer, Mohammed Hajj Hassan, labeled the Sehnaoui-Netanyahu meeting as ‘a public offense’, anticipating a judicial investigation that could lead to arrest warrants.

It remains unclear how prosecutors will proceed. Previously, similar cases resulted in arrest warrants for Lebanese nationals outside the country. A Lebanese Foreign Ministry official declined to comment when approached by the AP.

Sehnaoui, who in recent years has mainly resided in the US, owns several businesses in Lebanon and abroad, spanning banking, media, and the film industry. He, along with other prominent bankers, faced significant criticism after Lebanon’s 2019 economic collapse, during which most people lost access to their funds. The World Bank described the crisis as one of the world’s worst since the 1850s.

Sehnaoui’s meeting with the Israeli leader occurred as some Lebanese citizens advocate for abolishing a 1955 law that bans interactions with Israel or Israelis, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.