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Bank Hapoalim ( lit. The Workers' Bank) is one of the largest banks in Israel, established in 1921. The bank offers a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate, and institutional customers, with a focus on retail banking services. It operates a network of more than 250 branches and offices in Israel and abroad. Bank Hapoalim is a prominent player in the Israeli banking sector, with a significant market share.
The company is traded in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the symbol POLI, and is part of the Tel Aviv 35 Index. Noam Hanegbi was appointed Chairman of the Board in 2025, and Yadin Antebi was appointed CEO in August 2024, succeeding former CEO Dov Kotler.
The bank was owned by the Histadrut until 1983, when it was nationalized following the Bank Stock Crisis. The bank was held by the Israeli government until 1996 when it was sold to a group of investors led by Ted Arison.
The bank has a significant presence in global financial markets. In Israel, it has over 600 ATMs (automated teller machines), 250 bank branches, 7 regional business centers, 22 business branches and industry desks for major corporate customers. The bank's stock is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
At the end of 2015, the bank had 11,930 employees worldwide. Up until 2018, Arison Holdings, led by Shari Arison, owned approximately 20% of Bank Hapoalim’s shares. In late 2018, Arison announced the gradual sale of her holdings, concluding this process in September 2022 when shares worth over one billion shekels were sold, leaving the bank without a controlling shareholder.
In 2021, the bank reported a net profit of 915 million shekels ($267 million) in Q4 2020, compared to a net loss of 629 million shekels in Q4 2019. The bank's credit portfolio continued to grow, and it entered the digital wallet sector and made deals with banks in Bahrain and the UAE as a part of the Abraham Accords.
Net profit for 2023 totaled NIS 7,360 million, compared with NIS 6,532 million in 2022. The main driver of the increase is 19.3% growth in income, which was driven by rate hikes and the growth in activity, and despite a NIS 1.9 million credit loss provision booked in 2023.
Additionally, Poalim Equity operates an alternative investment platform, which includes investments in local and international private equity funds, the establishment of funds, and syndication investments for institutional entities. The company also provides advisory services for investment banking, supports mergers and acquisitions processes, facilitates private capital raises, and assists with public offerings of Israeli or Israel-affiliated companies on U.S. stock exchanges through a partnership with the American investment bank William Blair.
Poalim Equity holds a 20% stake in Leader Capital Markets, one of Israel’s leading underwriting firms. As a subsidiary of Bank Hapoalim, Poalim Equity invests in equity and debt in private companies, grants loans, and provides integrated growth solutions to a wide range of businesses.
| Yosef Aharonovitz | 1923–1937 | The first manager of the bank |
| Peretz Naftali | 1938–1949 | Later served as a minister in Israeli governments |
| Yitzhak Bareli and Avraham Zivarski | 1949–1955 | Chairmen of the management |
| Avraham Zivarski | 1956–1968 | Chairman of the management |
| Dr. Asher Halperin | 1969–1972 | Co-CEO |
| Yaakov Levinson | 1968–1976 | Chairman of the management |
| Naftali Blumenthal | 1976–1978 | Served as acting chairman during Levinson's stay in the U.S.; later a Knesset member |
| Yaakov Levinson and Ephraim Reiner | 1978–1980 | Chairmen of the management |
| Yaakov Levinson and Giora Gazit | 1980 | Chairmen of the management |
| Moshe Olnick | 1979–1994 | Acting chairman and co-CEO |
| Giora Gazit | 1980–1986 | Chairman of the management |
| Amiram Sivan | 1986–2002 | Former Director General of the Ministry of Finance |
| Eli Yonas | 2002–2003 | First to be officially titled CEO |
| Zvi Ziv | 2003–2009 | |
| Zion Kenan | 2009–2016 | |
| Arik Pinto | 2016–2019 | |
| Dov Kotler | 2019–2024 | |
| Yadin Antebi | 2024–Present |
| Yitzhak Bareli | 1951–1955 | |
| Avraham Zivarski | 1956–1968 | |
| Yaakov Levinson | 1968–1976 | Chairman of the Board of Directors |
| Naftali Blumenthal | 1976–1978 | Acting chairman during Levinson's stay in the U.S.; later a Knesset member |
| Ephraim Reiner | 1978–1985 | Chairman of the Board of Directors |
| Eitan Berglas | 1985–1992 | Chairman of the Board; former Vice-Rector at Tel Aviv University |
| Emmanuel Sharon | 1992–1998 | First to be officially titled Chairperson of the Bank; former Director General of the Ministry of Finance and Civil Service Commissioner |
| Shlomo Nehama | 1998–2007 | |
| Dani Dankner | 2007–2009 | Resigned following pressure from the Bank of Israel |
| Yair Seroussi | 2009–2017 | |
| Oded Eran | 2017–2020 | Passed away shortly after announcing his retirement |
| Reuven Krupik | 2020–Present |
It was ordered to pay $30 million in forfeitures and fines in relation to the second charge, which pertained to helping launder more than $20 million in bribes and kickbacks for officials involved in the corruption scandal that embroiled football's world governing body FIFA in 2015. Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation chief Don Fort said, "There is no excuse for a foreign financial institution to unlawfully assist wealthy Americans in flouting their responsibilities to pay their taxes. With today's guilty plea, Bank Hapoalim is taking responsibility for their role in deliberately breaking the law and undermining the integrity of this nation's tax system."
Assistant attorney general Brian Benczkowski stated that "for nearly five years, Bank Hapoalim employees used the US financial system to launder tens of millions of dollars in bribe payments to corrupt soccer officials in multiple countries", while William Sweeney, assistant director of the FBI's New York field office, said that "Bank Hapoalim admits executives looked the other way, and allowed illicit activity to continue even when employees discovered the scheme and reported it."
In October 2017, Danish pension firm Sampension banned investment in Hapoalim alongside three other companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including Bank Leumi, Israeli telecoms firm Bezeq and German firm Heidelberg Cement.
On 12 February 2020, the United Nations published a database of 112 companies helping to further Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied Golan Heights. These settlements are considered illegal under international law. Bank Hapoalim was listed on the database on account of its "provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements" and "banking and financial operations helping to develop, expand or maintain settlements and their activities" in these occupied territories.
On 5 July 2021, Norway's largest pension fund KLP said it would divest from Bank Hapoalim together with 15 other business entities implicated in the UN report for their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Involvement in Israeli settlements
In January 2014, Danske Bank and the Dutch pension fund PGGM blacklisted Bank Hapoalim for its involvement in the financing of settlements in the Palestinian territories.
Bank logos
Issuance of the Bank's Commemorative Stamp
To mark its 100th anniversary, the bank, in collaboration with Israel Post and the Philatelic Service, issued the "Centennial Stamp," designed by stamp designer Miri Gistor.
See also
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