Lebanese banker faces possible arrest at home after dining with Netanyahu

A Lebanese judge issued an order Wednesday that could lead to the arrest of prominent banker Antoun Sehnaoui if he returns to Lebanon over allegations of collaboration with Israel and violating laws prohibiting contact with Israelis, state media reported.

The order came days after Sehnaoui dined in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Judge Ahmad Rami al-Hajj of the Court of Cassation issued a 30-day notice directing security forces to locate and question Sehnaoui. The banker is in the United States, but the order could result in his detention upon his return to Lebanon.

Twenty Lebanese lawyers had filed a complaint earlier Wednesday with the public prosecutor’s office in Beirut over Sehnaoui’s meeting with Netanyahu.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted a photo on X of Sehnaoui sitting at a restaurant table with Netanyahu and his wife, Sara. Ravid wrote that Sehnaoui and former U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus hosted a dinner Monday in memory of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham that was attended by Netanyahu and U.S. officials.

A Sehnaoui-linked website, This is Beirut, also reported details of what it called the “special dinner.”

Sehnaoui’s lawyer in Beirut did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

State-run National News Agency reported late Wednesday that al-Hajj’s decision came after the Technical Information Office determined the photo was authentic and had not been altered, manipulated digitally or generated using artificial intelligence.

Four judicial officials said that after 30 days, the order issued by al-Hajj will be closed and transferred to the country’s Military Court for it to issue an arrest warrant for Sehnaoui. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The complaint by the 20 lawyers said Sehnaoui committed “the crimes of contacting and dealing with the Israeli enemy, violating the Israel boycott law, the crime of treason and state security crimes.”

Two of the Lebanese lawyers who filed the complaint told The Associated Press that the Sehnaoui-Netanyahu meeting came as Israel’s military is still carrying out attacks on Lebanon.