Nochi Dankner

After losing IDB, Dankner reached an agreement in 2016 to repay part of his personal debts to banks. In April 2026, banks applied for him to be declared insolvent; in June 2026, the court issued an insolvency order, freezing individual debt recovery and opening the statutory debt-resolution process.

State of the evidence

Settlement

Attribution

Personally implicated

Nochi Dankner was found guilty of participating in manipulation of IDB Holdings' share price around a 2012 share offering. In 2018, the Israeli Supreme Court dismissed his appeal and increased his sentence to three years' imprisonment. He subsequently served his sentence before being granted early release.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Personally implicated

Following the accumulation of debt at the top of IDB Group, creditors supported a competing bid to restructure the conglomerate and remove Dankner. The court-supervised process resulted in his loss of control over one of Israel's most powerful business groups.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Bank Leumi had considered writing off a substantial portion of Ganden Investments' debt, the vehicle through which Dankner controlled IDB. The agreement triggered widespread criticism over the treatment of heavily indebted tycoons, and the bank ultimately abandoned it.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

IDB, under Dankner, acquired the newspaper Maariv before the company incurred heavy losses and was urgently sold. Employees demonstrated and demanded safeguards for pay, pensions and severance, making the episode a major controversy over management of the media asset and the social costs of its collapse.

Attribution

Personally implicated

While Dankner controlled Maariv, a minority shareholder and press investigations alleged that he intervened unusually in editorial coverage, particularly on subjects affecting his economic interests or relationships. Internal meetings and communications were cited in support of these allegations.

Attribution

Personally implicated

Under Dankner's control, Koor Industries concentrated a significant portion of its capital in Credit Suisse. The bank's falling share price in 2011 caused several billion shekels in accounting losses and considerable financing pressure, turning the strategy into a symbol of concentration risks within IDB.

State of the evidence

Documented