The shutdown of the Bank Leumi, Israel’s largest bank, entered its second week today with no indication of when it will resume business. The bank management ordered it closed on Oct. 4 after several weeks of labor strife disrupted normal operations.
The move was approved by Minister of Commerce and Industry Gideon Patt. But it has created considerable hardships for Bank Leumi customers and the customers of other banks that have had to assume additional burdens. The other banks agreed to honor Bank Leumi checks up to IL 2000 per day per person to ease the impact on small depositors.
But large firms dependent on bank credit to do business are having a more difficult time. The Council of Banks has left it up to individual branch managers to decide how much credit to extend to Bank Leumi customers. Inevitably, financial losses have occurred but their extent has not been calculated.
With the continued closure of the many Bank Leumi branches all over the country, lines have grown longer at other banks and customers more irate The Bank Leumi management said they will not reopen until they have assurances that all branches can function without interruption.
They blamed bank clerks for intermittent work “sanctions” which, they said, made it uncertain from day to day which branches would be open and for how many hours. The Israel Discount Bank, the country’s second largest, has also suffered from similar job actions but remains open. In some branches, clerks are working only two hours a day.
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