Two pro-Palestine UK staff sue Lloyds Bank; Jared Kushner buys into Israel-based financial firm

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners bought a $128.5-million stake in financial services firm Phoenix Holdings, marking the Saudi-backed company’s second deal in Israel in under a year.

The Miami-based private equity firm will buy a 4.95% stake in Phoenix from Centerbridge Partners and Gallatin Point Capital, according to a statement on Tuesday. Affinity also agreed to acquire a further 4.95% stake subject to approval from the Israeli regulator.

Lloyds sued by UK staff disciplined over pro-Palestine posts

Lloyds Bank was sued by two female employees who argued the company discriminated against them when they were disciplined after posting criticism of Israel on the bank’s internal chat platform in 2021.

Afra Sohail, a customer adviser, and Aunngbeen Khalid, a fair assessment adviser, claimed at a London tribunal they were discriminated against on the basis of their political and religious beliefs after the bank sanctioned and reported them to the Financial Conduct Authority for gross misconduct. Both still work for Lloyds. The lender denies all the allegations of discrimination.

The comments, made by the two women more than two years before the 7 October terror attack in Israel and the ensuing fighting in Gaza, were inappropriate and against the FCA conduct rules, the bank’s lawyers said in court documents.

A disciplinary manager at the lender said in testimony at a hearing on Monday that the bank didn’t curb the free speech of employees and didn’t have any policy to ban criticism of Israel’s government.

Franck Magennis, a lawyer for the women, said during the hearing that the posts were not offensive and the allegation that they were anti-Semitic was “irrational and spurious”.

The court case is the latest example of the balancing act employers have to strike internally on divisive geopolitical events, with the latest Israel-Palestine conflict a delicate issue for companies. Unlike in the US, British companies can’t fire employees because of their political views unless they express them in a discriminatory or offensive manner.

Bristol University found itself on the wrong end of a court decision in February after it was ruled that Professor David Miller faced discrimination when he was fired for his comments about Israel. Lawyers successfully argued that Miller’s anti-Zionist beliefs were a protected belief.

“We are committed to providing an inclusive place of work for everyone, and will always take appropriate action if colleagues fail to meet the expected standards set out clearly in our conduct policy,” Lloyds said in a statement. “It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing legal case.”

Sohail had sought to raise the topic on the bank’s technology help desk forum and emails to managers urging them to discontinue purchasing computer hardware from a manufacturer that she said provided equipment to Israel’s military.

Khalid’s post on an internal chat forum said she was baffled why no one spoke about the Israel-Palestine issues as people did on Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ issues. In another post, Khalid wrote: “I understand the ‘Jewish people kind of needed a place to go’ but NO ONE had the right to give them Palestinian’s land.”

The comments were highlighted by another colleague as potentially offensive, according to the bank’s lawyers. The lender conducted an investigation and found that the comments were inappropriate and against the bank’s anti-racist values.

The disciplinary action, which stays on the FCA’s record for six years and can prevent individuals from finding a new job in finance, curtailed their free speech and proceeded on the basis that expressing “philosophical anti-Zionist beliefs was inherently objectionable”, their lawyer said in legal filings.

The women made the comments in the days after an outbreak of violent attacks in May 2021 and they seek compensation and withdrawal of the disciplinary action.

“When staying silent is not an option, taking a massive bank to court becomes a sensible choice,” the legal team for the women said in an emailed statement.

Jared Kushner’s Affinity buys into one of Israel’s top financial firms

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners bought a $128.5-million stake in financial services firm Phoenix Holdings, marking the Saudi-backed company’s second deal in Israel in under a year.

The Miami-based private equity firm will buy a 4.95% stake in Phoenix from Centerbridge Partners and Gallatin Point Capital, according to a statement on Tuesday. Affinity also agreed to acquire a further 4.95% stake subject to approval from the Israeli regulator.

Centerbridge and Gallatin Point control Phoenix’s biggest shareholder, Belenus Lux, which owns just over 31%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The firms are selling part of their stake to other investors, including Israeli gas producer Delek Group, and their holding will drop to about 10% if the second tranche of the Affinity transaction goes through.

Belenus Lux is selling its stake at 37.5 shekels apiece, a 4% discount to Phoenix’s last closing price. The stock was down by about 3% on Tuesday.

The sale comes less than a year after a consortium of Abu Dhabi funds led by ADQ called off a planned deal to buy a controlling stake in Phoenix. Affinity has previously invested in Israel, snapping up a stake in S Shlomo Holdings’ car and credit division in September.

Kushner is the son-in-law of former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and served as a senior White House adviser. He played a pivotal role in the Abraham Accords that normalised relations between Israel and some Arab nations in 2020.

After leaving his government role, he set up Affinity, which has assets of more than $3-billion. The firm was backed by Middle Eastern state-backed investors, including about $2-billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. DM

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