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6d ago

Lebanese Banker Hosts Netanyahu at Washington Memorial Dinner

The public meeting has prompted legal complaints and widespread anger in Lebanon because contact with Israelis is illegal and the country is bearing heavy wartime losses.

An Arabic mock "wanted" poster of a Lebanese Chairman bank Antoun Sehnaoui, plastered by depositors protesters outside the Lebanese Central Bank, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. More than a dozen Lebanese lawyers on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, filed a complaint at the prosecutors' office in Beirut on Wednesday against a prominent local banker, saying he violated the country's laws by meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington this week. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A mock "wanted" poster of Lebanese bank owner Antoun Sehnaoui, left, plastered by depositors protesters outside the Lebanese Central Bank, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. More than a dozen Lebanese lawyers on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, filed a complaint at the prosecutors' office in Beirut on Wednesday against a prominent local banker, saying he violated the country's laws by meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington this week. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese banker Antoun Sehnaoui with Morgan Ortagus. Photo: Instagram
Lebanese banker Antoun Sehnaoui, right, attended a dinner in memory of US senator Lindsey Graham in Washington. Photo: Benjamin Netanyahu / Facebook

Overview

  • Antoun Sehnaoui, a Lebanese banker who lives abroad, co-hosted a memorial dinner in Washington where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several senior US and Israeli figures were present.
  • Images of the event provoked strong backlash in Lebanon and a group of Lebanese lawyers filed a court case citing a 1955 law that outlaws direct dealings with Israelis.
  • Sehnaoui already faces formal charges in Lebanon accusing him and his bank, SGBL, of money laundering tied to currency trading during the 2019 financial collapse.
  • The meeting took place while Israel is conducting military operations in Lebanon that reporting says have killed thousands of civilians, a context that many Lebanese cited in their anger.
  • The guest list and Sehnaoui’s public pro‑Israel stances highlight how transnational elite networks intersect with Lebanon’s sectarian politics and could increase legal and political pressure on the banker and his associates.