AXA EYES ISRAELI INSURANCE MARKET IN FACE OF JEWISH HOSTILITY

AXA chairman Claude Bebear has confirmed that the French insurer is looking to acquire a direct writer in Israel to complement its existing reinsurance operations in the region. Mr Bebear visited Israel last week as a guest of local firm Phoenix Insurance Co, during which time he held talks with Phoenix chairman Yossi Hachmey and met with various Israeli political leaders, including former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres. However, AXA’s intentions in Israel have already met with significant opposition, since the insurer has so far failed to comply with its commitments to compensate those holding life cover belonging to victims of the Nazi holocaust. The World Jewish Restitution Organisation (WJRO) said that it would oppose a move by AXA into Israel “in every possible way”, arguing that AXA had 600,000 policyholders in Germany during the time of the Nazi regime but has yet to publish the names of holocaust victims in order that their heirs may receive compensation. AXA maintains that French law forbids the publishing of policyholders’ names, but is likely to face continued pressure in view of last year’s $100m settlement agreed by Italian insurer Generali to compensate descendants of holocaust victims. It may also run into difficulty at state level, since under Israeli law the acquisition of more than 10% of a local insurer must be approved by the country’s supervisor of insurance, Tzipi Samet.