Judge says leaning to approve Roman Abramovich donation to ZAKA

After Israeli businessman Roman Abramovich and ZAKA filed a lawsuit against Bank Mizrahi for the bank's refusal to transfer a donation of NIS 8 million to ZAKA to help the NGO prepare for future emergencies, a first hearing was held today (Thursday) at the Tel Aviv District Court.

Judge Yardena Seroussi stated that she is inclined to approve Mr. Abramovich's request to transfer the donation to ZAKA.

She will present her final decision in the coming weeks.

Background about the lawsuit

According to the lawsuit, the bank has refused to transfer a donation from Abramovich's account at Bank Mizrachi due to the sanctions that have been imposed on him by the European Union and the British government, and therefore, according to the bank's position, the account needs to remain frozen even though no sanctions have been imposed on Abramovich in Israel or the United States.

In response to the bank's claims, the judge noted that this was a case in which a request was received to transfer funds from one bank account in Israel to another bank account in Israel: "Is it reasonable that the bank comes and adopts European sanctions when there is no dispute that they do not apply in Israel? Especially if it is a donation to a charity that helps the State of Israel in its difficult time? The across-the-board refusal by the bank is unreasonable.”

The judge added: "You claim that the bank respects the sanctions regime, but in such a case, it is possible to make an exception. Here we are talking about funds that are in Israel and will remain in Israel and for a very worthy and especially important cause these days. Why would this harm the bank's reputation?'

At the end of her remarks, the judge advised the bank to approve Mr. Abramovich's request and stated that she is inclined to approve the request to order the bank to transfer the funds to ZAKA.

Roman Abramovich's attorneys Shmulik Cassuto and Bella Peled called the bank’s position absurd: "The bank which is located in Israel is not obligated to abide by sanctions and the account is not subject to sanctions and yet the bank applies sanctions in a comprehensive way. The Israeli government decided not to join the European sanctions and what is the bank doing? It is applying the sanctions more comprehensively than even the UK.”

“The sanctions regime imposed by Europe and the UK do not apply to Israel. No sanctions were imposed on Abramovich in Israel, and his request is to transfer money in Israel to charity. We demand that Bank Mizrahi transfer the donation immediately.”

The discussion in court 

As part of the discussion, a representative for Roman Abramovich appeared in court and spoke about the relationship forged between the philanthropist and ZAKA, when he visited Kfar Aza shortly after the eruption of the war:

“I accompanied Mr. Abramovich to the Gaza border and the Kfar Aza kibbutz to see firsthand what happened and bear witness.

It was there that we met volunteers of ZAKA collecting blood off the floor of a home. All of us were deeply moved, and when we were later approached by ZAKA about a donation Mr Abramovich decided immediately that he wanted to help.

The representative noted that Mr Abramovich has worked with charitable initiatives in Israel for nearly 20 years, and would like to have the opportunity to continue, especially now as the country faces unprecedented challenges.

Carsten Zatschler, a barrister and expert on EU law who testified, said ahead of the hearing thatBank Mizrachi is mistaken in the way it presents the recent EU General Court decision to maintain the sanctions against Mr. Abramovich

“The decision has nothing to do with the connection to the Russian Government or because – as the bank falsely states – due to a claim that Mr Abramovich has benefited financially (or in any other way) from connections to the Russian Government.”

He said that the sanctions imposed on Mr Abramovich were never justified by a direct connection to the war, and the EU presented no such arguments in court.

Zatschler said that the EU Court’s decision to maintain the sanctions was based purely on the court defining Abramovich as a “Russian businessman” due to the shares he owns in Evraz, which under today’s broad EU regulations is enough of a reason to remain sanctioned.