Lebanese banker Antoun Sehnaoui, who faces corruption allegations, has appeared alongside US diplomat Morgan Ortagus at a ceremony at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
Mr Sehnaoui attended the museum’s Days of Remembrance event on Tuesday with Ms Ortagus, as Lebanon and Israel were holding direct talks elsewhere in the US capital. The pair's inscriptions on the Donor's Wall were unveiled and in Mr Sehnaoui's case it was the first time a Lebanese donor's name has appeared there.
Ms Ortagus previously handled the Lebanon file as part of her role as deputy special envoy to the Middle East under the Trump administration, and has been a strong supporter of Israel, as well as a vocal critic of Iran and Hezbollah, repeatedly calling for Lebanon to disarm the group.
Her appearance in a video alongside the Lebanese banker, after months of rumours about a relationship between the two, drew attention, given it came during the Lebanon-Israel talks.
In the video, Ms Ortagus said supporting the Jewish people, “even when it comes at personal risk”, reflects “moral clarity”.
“What makes it a little bit different – I’m going to brag about him because I love him – what Antoun is doing today is technically illegal in Lebanon,” she said, before referring to his contributions to a US-Israeli opera initiative. “I’m so proud of him today for doing something illegal in Lebanon.”
Under Lebanese law, citizens are prohibited from engaging in direct dealings with Israeli people or institutions, with violations punishable by prison sentences. Mr Sehnaoui has lived outside Lebanon for several years.
A donation to a US-based museum is not, in itself, illegal but could still trigger prosecution.
Ms Ortagus also described Mr Sehnaoui and his family as “generations of Lebanese Christian Zionists”, a term rarely used in Lebanese political discourse, and said his parents had raised him to support Israel.
Mr Sehnaoui wrote on Instagram he was “deeply grateful” to support the museum’s work. “Morgan and I had the honour of attending the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Days of Remembrance ceremony in Washington, DC, where our inscription on the Donors Wall was unveiled. This year, and every year, we are reminded that it is our responsibility to ensure that future generations never forget.”
Mr Sehnaoui is chairman of Societe Generale de Banque au Liban (SGBL), one of Lebanon’s largest banks. Prosecutors in his homeland have filed charges against him and the bank over alleged money laundering linked to currency trading operations during the financial crisis that began in 2019. The bank denies any wrongdoing.
Investigations have reported allegations that SGBL enabled capital flight and benefited from financial engineering associated with former central bank governor Riad Salameh, who is under investigation in numerous jurisdictions.
In the US, Mr Sehnaoui and SGBL are also subject to a civil lawsuit filed by families of victims of attacks attributed to Hezbollah in Iraq. They allege the bank provided material support to the group, claims SGBL has denied.
