Only a few hours after the photo of the dinner that brought together Lebanese businessman Anton Sehnaoui and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington was published, a group of lawyers close to “Hezbollah” moved and filed a complaint before the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Beirut against Sehnaoui for the crime of communicating with the enemy and violating the provisions of the law boycotting Israel issued in 1955.
Lawyer Maan Al-Asaad expressed surprise that the Attorney General, Judge Ahmed Rami Al-Hajj, did not act automatically as he did with those who attacked the President of the Republic, and he saw that “the judiciary has been manipulated to implement a political agenda to intimidate anyone who dares to say that Israel is an enemy,” noting that “this report puts the judiciary to the test.”
Simultaneously, the hashtag “Sahnaoui is an enemy of Lebanon” spread on social media, and activist Gabriel Zalghout wrote the following: “He is a thief of depositors’ money… and he openly declares his collaboration with the Zionist enemy. And those who provide him with cover and support from within Lebanon are all partners in killing the Lebanese, in destroying the homeland and robbing its people of their rights.”
Jamal Shuaib believes that “no one in the current authority will take action to hold Anton Sahnaoui accountable because there are many like him.” He asked, “What are you going to do when you are still unwilling to inundate these people with lawsuits, as you do to silence others? And you are unwilling to hold a comprehensive meeting and a national conference to expose all the lies, forgeries, fabrications, insults, and transgressions committed by these individuals against our most sacred beliefs?”
Amani Wahba said: “After participating in the bankruptcy of banks, looting depositors’ money, financing sedition, and supporting the war on Lebanon, banker Anton Sahnaoui is hosting the head of the internationally ostracized enemy entity’s government, Benjamin Netanyahu, at a dinner banquet. It means a dinner at our expense between those who looted us and those who killed us.”
Ahmad Shahrour believes that Lebanon has entered the Israeli era and that shame has become a point of view.
For his part, Ahmed Shahrour considered that Lebanon had entered the Israeli era and that “shame has become a point of view,” saying: “This is what happened as a result of the war whose consequences were not calculated.” He added: “The South has been martyred, and the hope of returning seems difficult.”
In contrast, political writer Bishara Charbel called for an end to populism, posting a picture of banker Sahnaoui and Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem on his account, accompanied by a comment stating, “Lebanese law prohibits ‘contact with the enemy.’ Simply put, the enemy is the aggressor against sovereignty and the killer of Lebanese citizens. Therefore, it is the duty of the ‘state of law’ to prosecute Sahnaoui and Naim Qassem alike, unless one’s own eyes see the Revolutionary Guard as peace scouts who loved Hariri and Luqman and did not stockpile nitrates.”
Jawad Koussa asked the resistance team: “Why didn’t you receive Hochstein and sell Lebanon’s oil and gas?”
Andre Jabbour praised banker Sahnaoui, describing him as “a strong and courageous Lebanese who loves his country and works for the benefit of Lebanon.”
In parallel, the Lebanese newspaper “L’Orient-Le Jour” published a report on the Sahnaoui family, focusing “on the personality of Anton, the nephew of the founder of the family’s banking branch, and the way in which he was able, within a few years, to become one of the most prominent businessmen in Lebanon, combining the chairmanship of a major banking group, investment in media, film production, charitable work, and building a wide network of political and economic relations inside and outside Lebanon.”
The report highlighted “the controversy surrounding Anton Sahnaoui’s rise, as his name became associated with a number of legal and media cases and disputes with political and financial figures,” shedding light on “his method of expanding his influence through investment in multiple sectors, particularly the media, which gave him a presence that goes beyond the traditional banking sector.”
