Nochi Dankner Drops Objection, Insolvency Order Expected

Businessman Nochi Dankner is expected to face a Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court order opening insolvency proceedings against him after he withdrew his objection at a hearing on Wednesday. The request was filed in April by Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, and Bank Discount, which argued that he had failed to comply with his debt settlement.

According to the court record, Dankner has repaid about 110 million shekels so far out of a fixed obligation of 180 million shekels under the settlement. During the hearing before Judge Nurit Tabib Mizrahi, his lawyer, Shalom Goldblatt, said his client no longer opposes the order. Dankner told the court, “I did my best to repay my debts.”

Goldblatt asked for a pause before the trustee appointed in the case begins work, saying the parties should be given more time to hold further talks. Ronen Matri, representing Bank Leumi, said the banks do not object to a 30-day extension for negotiations. The judge said the decision on the order is expected soon.

Dankner, once considered one of the most powerful figures in Israeli business, has accumulated debts of roughly 500 million shekels through his private companies Ganden and Tomahawk. For years he resisted declaring bankruptcy and tried to repay the debt over an extended period, but most of it remains unpaid. The largest claimed debts are about 175 million shekels to Bank Hapoalim, 162 million to Bank Leumi, 119 million to Bank Discount, and 90 million to Mizrahi Tefahot Bank.