Storm following the exposure of "Israel Today" because the bank refuses to grant loans to its customers beyond the Green Line • Chairman of Benjamin Israel Gantz: "We will consider an immediate cessation of all operations and move to another bank" • Head of Mount Hebron Council: "It is inconceivable that a bank calling itself National Discriminates Whole Public "

• National Bank // Photo: Yehoshua Yosef

A storm following the exposure of "Israel Today" to the discrimination of Bank Leumi customers living or operating across the Green Line. Binyamin Regional Council, the largest council in Judea and Samaria with tens of thousands of citizens, is now threatening to remove its accounts from the bank if it does not return from the discriminatory conditions.

"If Bank Leumi does not make it clear that there is no boycott of Yush residents - we will immediately see a cessation of all Leumi financial activity and transfer it to another bank," says the head of the council, Israel Gantz, who instructed the council's treasurers to prepare for transferring the council's activities to another bank if no clear clarification was made. Binyamin Regional Council is the largest regional council in the country and its ongoing activities at the Bank amount to hundreds of millions of shekels a year.

Gantz also says that "if the publication is true, then the decision of the National Bank to surrender to BDS and allow a boycott of hundreds of thousands of residents of YSR is a blatant violation of the boycott law and its unparalleled scandal. We will not give the other cheek and we will not continue to work with those who boycott us. "

Mount Hebron councilor Yochai Demri also vehemently attacked: "Before we fight unprecedented discrimination in Europe and the Hague towards us, we must strongly protest against dangerous and delusional discrimination here in Israel. National Bank has proven that its name is far from characterizing it. Removes Judah and Samaria from his decisions. "

Gush Etzion regional council head Shlomo Ne'eman sent a letter to the bank urging them to cancel the discrimination, adding: "It is inconceivable that a bank calling itself a national discriminates against an entire public, relying on the determinations of foreign countries and foreign policy. European antisemitism translated into the new era for anti-Israelis We cannot, as a society that respects national values, submit to political dictates whose sole purpose is to dismantle us from within. I urge the bank to proudly bear its name and be first and foremost national. Do not be part of the despicable and delusional bds family. "

Adv. Ze'ev Lev Expert in Land Law Courts Partner Rotman Lev: "The information published shows that the conduct of National Bank immigration to prohibition is prohibited by the Prohibition on Discrimination against Products and Services, which has been specially remembered to prevent discriminating against residents of their home country. , And the Bank's conduct also appears to rise to a 'commitment to boycott' under Section 4 of the Boycott Law. Bank customers who are refused a loan because of their residence are entitled to sue the bank for discrimination, up to NIS 50,000 even without proof of damage. In addition, the Chief Minister and Minister of Finance must use his authority under the Boycott Law and act against a commercial bank in Israel participating in the boycott of Israeli citizens Their residence. "

The Bank recently issued benefits for lending loans in cooperation with the European Union Investment Fund. These benefits are not provided to Israeli customers of the Bank who operate or reside outside the June 1967 lines, including all of Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip. They will not be able to enjoy the guarantees and the reduced credit due to an agreement of the European Fund with the bank. This is allegedly a passage on the boycott and discrimination on the grounds of residence, which is contrary to Israeli law.

This publication comes in the wake of the decision by the Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate Israel for allegedly committed war crimes in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip and under the UN Human Rights Commission's intention to publish a "black list" of businesses providing civil services to residents in these areas.

Leumi Bank said last night: "The EU guarantee is part of a major master plan called Horizon 2020, set up to promote innovation in Europe and also a member state of the EU. The EU guarantee program has been determined by the criteria as a condition for participation in the program. From a hundred companies in the hundreds of millions of dollars. "