Israeli Supreme Court Says Israeli Bank Shouldn't Transfer Oligarch's Donation to ZAKA Search and Rescue

Israel's Supreme Court earlier this month overturned a lower court decision that ordered Mizrahi Tefahot Bank to transfer a donation Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich sought to make to Israeli humanitarian group ZAKA Search and Rescue, according to Israeli newspaper Globes. The bank refused to process the transaction, which totaled over $213,000, due to the risk of EU and U.K. sanctions being levied against the bank for circumvention of sanctions on Abramovich.

The lower court told the bank to make the payment since the money should stay in Israel, and EU and U.K. sanctions don't apply to Israel. The high court overturned the ruling since Abramovich and ZAKA failed to show that the bank's refusal to allow the donation to proceed due to its risk management policy was unreasonable.

The court said the bank's policy was based on the obligation imposed on the banks to set procedures on the management of terror financing and money laundering risks. The decision was a provisional rule, with the full hearing set for September.