---
tags:
  - Organization
  - Finance
  - Israel
category: "Private Organization"
summary: "Bank Leumi is Israel's oldest and one of its largest banks, whose American branch board included Walworth Barbour, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, after his 1973 retirement."
start: 1902
location: "Tel Aviv, Israel"
---
Bank Leumi is an Israeli state bank. After his retirement in 1973, [[Walworth Barbour]], the former American ambassador to [[Israel]], agreed to become a board member of its American branch. This decision, while not illegal, was seen by many [[State Department]] officials as posing an obvious conflict of interest.[^1]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 12.