Top Israeli bank chairman to speak at Saudi investment event

Rothschild & Co SCA

25/10/2022 11:56

By Yousef Saba
       DUBAI, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The chairman of Israel's Bank
Leumi  LUMI.TA  is due to speak at Saudi Arabia's flagship
investment conference in Riyadh on Thursday, in the latest sign
of a potential thawing in relations between the two countries.
    Relations between Israel and some Gulf Arab states have been
warming in recent years as they share concerns over Iran's
influence in the region. In 2020, Riyadh's Gulf allies the
United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed historic U.S.-brokered
deals to normalise relations with Israel.
    Organisers of the FII conference confirmed Bank Leumi
chairman Samer Haj Yehia's planned attendance in response to a
Reuters query. Bank Leumi, one of Israel's two largest banks,
declined to comment. 
    Haj Yehia is due to speak on a panel titled "transforming
banking and investment for the resilient economy" alongside
other top finance executives, including from Rothschild &
Company, Societe Generale and Wells Fargo, according to FII's
agenda.
    Haj Yehia is the first Arab Israeli to serve as the bank's
chairman.
    The FII's sixth edition is being held amid a public spat
between Riyadh and Washington over a decision by OPEC+ to cut
oil production, a move U.S. President Joe Biden vowed would have
"consequences" for U.S.-Saudi ties.
    Top Wall Street executives, including JPMorgan's Jamie
Dimon, Goldman Sachs' David Solomon and a host of others,
attended the event's first day on Tuesday.
 (Reporting by Yousef Saba in Dubai and Ari Rabinovitch in
Jerusalem
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com; +971562166204; https://twitter.com/YousefSaba))