Published: 5 July 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
THE ELECTION OF DR SAMER Haj-Yehia as chairman of Bank Leumi’s board this week is being hailed as a milestone for Israel-Arab integration into to the economy. The reality is that it is more akin to a miracle we’ll witness once in our lifetimes.
Haj-Yehia is eminently qualified for the job. He has been a director at Leumi, Israel’s biggest bank by market value, for five years and has sat on board committees on credit, strategy, investment and prospectuses.
He has a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and degrees in accounting, business, economics and law from the Hebrew University.
But if his appointment were a milestone, it would mean that we’ve marked an important advance on the way to bringing more Israeli Arabs into the heart of the Israeli economy. But it’s no such thing.
A glance at the boards and top management of Israel’s five big banks shows not a single Arab among that elite of 109 people.
FULL STORY An Arab at the helm of an Israeli bank? It’s nothing less than a miracle (Haaretz)
Photo: Samer Haj-Yehia, the newly appointed chairman of Bank Leumi (Emil Salman)
