Berlin – A
bank teller at Bank Sparkasse, one of the largest banks in Germany, refused to
open an account for an Israeli living in Berlin, telling him that Israeli
passport holders are under embargo.
As
a result of Ynet’s request for comment, the bank’s management – after an inquiry
that lasted two weeks – responded by saying it was an error done by the teller,
adding: “All we can do is apologize.”
The
Israeli, Yakir Avraham, went to the bank’s branch in the Alexanderplatz area of
Berlin, and when he gave the teller his Israeli passport in order to open the
bank account, the teller took the passport and went into another room to check
it. She returned a few minutes later and said “I’m very sorry, but we
cannot open up a bank account for you here. We aren’t allowed to open accounts
for citizens of countries under embargo.”
“I
was in shock at first. How did it get to the point that they treat us like
lepers? I took my passport and left the bank,” Avraham told Ynet.
Immediately
after the incident on February 24, Ynet turned to the bank management asking if
there was a specific bank policy concerning Israel, and what they meant by
“a country under embargo.” The bank clarified that there is no
official policy, and it was simply a mistake made by the teller.
“It’s clear that this isn’t our
business policy. This is an unfortunate mistake made by a young colleague who
is still in training, and who didn’t know how to deal with the situation
properly. She deeply apologizes for the mistake. We hope that Mr. Avraham
accepts our explanation and apology,” the bank said in a statement.
