The Judge of the Tel Aviv–Yaffo Magistrates Court, Nurit Tabiv Mizrahi, accepted last week the banks' request and issued an official order to open insolvency proceedings against the businessman and former controlling shareholder of the IDB Group, Nochi Dankner. The order was given with the consent of the parties and after Dankner announced during the hearing that he does not contest the actual debt to the banking system and agrees to the move.

The request to open proceedings was submitted this past April by Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Mizrahi Tefahot, and Bank Discount, who claimed that Dankner violated his commitments time after time and requested postponements for the original debt settlement signed with him in 2016. As part of the proceeding, the debt settlement was attached to the lawsuit alongside five addenda and amendments signed over the years, the latest of which is from December 2025. In his official response, Dankner, currently 71 years old, noted that he is no longer able to meet the repayment schedule set after having exhausted his capabilities and operating for about a decade to pay the debts.

During the hearing, Dankner addressed the court and said that he has always respected judicial decisions: "I have been in insolvency for ten years or more, and after an order is given I will respect it. I always did my best, including in liquidating the residential home, and unfortunately it did not succeed. I gave everything I have and even now I am willing to give everything I have." Dankner added during the hearing that he has thrown up his hands and wants to reach a discharge of debts as quickly as possible.

Dankner's attorney, Shalom Goldblatt, requested from the court that a period of time be granted prior to the appointment of the trustee in order to allow the parties to conduct contacts and converse with each other. Atty. Ronen Matri, representing Bank Leumi, noted that the applicants agree to granting a period of thirty days until the appointment of the trustee. The judge ruled in her decision that with the issuance of the order, the Insolvency Commissioner will be responsible for managing the proceedings, and that the requests regarding the appointment of the trustee and this period of time will be directed straight to the Commissioner. Also joined to the proceeding was Aryeh Rahav, represented by Atty. Sinai Elias, as a representative plaintiff in a class action lawsuit being conducted against Dankner in the District Court.

Following the issuance of the order, all legal proceedings and collection proceedings against Dankner were frozen, and foreclosures and restrictions imposed on him within previous collection proceedings were canceled. In their place, strict restrictions were imposed on Dankner by virtue of the Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation Law. Among the restrictions imposed: Stay of exit from the country, restriction on receiving or holding an Israeli passport, definition as a special restricted customer at the bank, as well as a ban on the use of charge cards (except for a bank debit card for immediate debit against a credit balance only). Furthermore, Dankner is obligated to appear before the trustee and the Commissioner for investigations, to pay a monthly periodic payment for the benefit of his creditors, and to submit income and expense reports once every two months. The hearing on the request for an economic rehabilitation order was set for September 2027.

Dankner, who in the past was considered the strongest man in the Israeli economy, accumulated massive debts of approximately NIS 500 million through his private companies "Gandan" and "Tomahawk". Throughout the past decade, he insisted on not declaring bankruptcy and tried to repay the debt over a long extension.

Thus far, Dankner managed to return a cumulative amount of approximately NIS 110 million, but the vast majority of the debt has not yet been repaid.

According to the request, the main distribution of debts stands at:

Bank Hapoalim: Approximately NIS 175 million.
Bank Leumi: Approximately NIS 162 million.
Bank Discount: Approximately NIS 119 million.
Mizrahi Tefahot: Approximately NIS 90 million.