A coalition of Lebanese lawyers submitted a complaint on Wednesday to Lebanon's top public prosecutor requesting an inquiry into banker Antoun Sehnaoui for his alleged role in co-hosting a dinner in Washington that was attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The complaint accuses Sehnaoui of "communicating with the Israeli enemy," lawyer Mohamad Amer Al Haj Hassan told reporters, characterising the filing as a formal request to examine whether Sehnaoui's actions violated Lebanese law.
The case underscores the acute political sensitivity in Lebanon around any sign of normalising relations with Israel. The country continues to face the reality of Israeli forces occupying a strip of land in southern Lebanon that was seized during months of fighting earlier this year with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Under Lebanese law, nationals are prohibited from engaging in transactions with Israeli citizens and institutions, a prohibition that informs public and legal scrutiny of contacts involving Israeli officials. Lebanon also remains officially in a state of war with Israel, despite a pledge by Beirut during recent U.S.-brokered talks to pursue peaceful ties.
Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying the prime minister attended a July 27 dinner held in honour of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who died on July 11, while not identifying the event's organisers.
Separately, an Israeli official and a source briefed on the dinner said it had been organised by Antoun Sehnaoui and Morgan Ortagus, who previously served as deputy special envoy to the Middle East under U.S. President Donald Trump. The involvement of those organisers is cited in the complaint and in public commentary.
Voices within Lebanon reacted strongly. Lebanese lawmaker Halima Kaakour described the reported meeting between Sehnaoui and Netanyahu as a "major moral and national crisis" in a post on X, saying the event was especially fraught given the ongoing Israeli occupation of Lebanese land.
Sehnaoui, who lives in the United States, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to available reports. He is the chairman of Societe Generale de Banque au Liban and comes from a prominent banking family. The banker previously generated controversy in Lebanon after posting in April that he had attended a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in Washington with Morgan Ortagus.
The complaint to the prosecutor formalises public concern and opens the prospect of a legal review. The filing and subsequent reactions illustrate the tensions between private diplomatic or social engagements abroad and Lebanon's domestic legal and political constraints regarding contact with Israeli officials or institutions.