Mizrahi Tefahot Bank
~36% of all Israeli mortgages — largest single share. Emerged from 2005 merger of Mizrahi and Tefahot. The mortgage-specialist counterweight.
Mizrahi Tefahot Bank holds the largest single share of the Israeli mortgage market — approximately 36% of all Israeli mortgages. The bank emerged from the 2005 merger of Bank Mizrahi and Bank Tefahot, both of which had specialized in housing credit since the 1950s. Mizrahi Tefahot's mortgage specialization provides one of the few competitive counterweights to the broader Hapoalim-Leumi dominance of the Israeli banking sector. The bank was named in the May 6, 2026 Competition Authority concentration group declaration and was among the five Israeli banks divested by Norway's sovereign wealth fund in August 2025.
Fact box
| Type | Publicly traded commercial bank |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 (merger of Bank Mizrahi and Bank Tefahot) |
| Headquarters | Ramat Gan, Israel |
| Listed | Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (MZTF) |
| Mortgage market share | ~36% (largest single share in Israeli mortgage market) |
| 2017 acquisition | Union Bank of Israel |
| Branches | ~140 in Israel; subsidiaries and branches in US and UK |
Mizrahi Tefahot Bank holds the largest single share of the Israeli mortgage market. The mortgage specialization dates to the constituent institutions before the 2005 merger; Bank Tefahot in particular operated as a dedicated housing-credit institution from the 1950s.
The bank's broader scale and capital position were strengthened by the 2017 acquisition of Union Bank of Israel, which expanded Mizrahi Tefahot's diversification beyond the mortgage specialization into a more comprehensive retail and corporate banking position. The bank operates approximately 140 branches in Israel and substantial international presence through subsidiaries and branches in the US and UK.
Mizrahi Tefahot was named alongside the other four large banks in the May 6, 2026 Competition Authority concentration group declaration and was among the five Israeli banks divested by Norway's NBIM in August 2025 alongside Hapoalim, Leumi, FIBI, and FIBI Holdings. The bank's position in the Israeli mortgage market means that any regulatory changes emerging from the post-May 2026 directives — which take effect May 6, 2027 — will have particularly substantial implications for Mizrahi Tefahot's operating model.
Read Next in The Olam
- The Mortgage Market — Detail on the mortgage market position
- The Banking Oligopoly — Broader concentration group context
- Banking & Institutional Capital — Pillar
- Bank Hapoalim · Bank Leumi
Sources
- Mizrahi Tefahot 2024 and 2025 annual reports (TASE filings).
- The Times of Israel, “Regulator demands fairness from Israeli banks as they cash in on hefty fees,” May 2025 (Mizrahi Tefahot 36% mortgage market share).
- The Times of Israel, “Israel's competition watchdog declares top 5 banks an oligopoly,” May 6, 2026.
- CNBC, “Norway's giant wealth fund exits six firms on Israel concerns,” August 26, 2025.
Additional anchor sources: Globes; Calcalist; Reuters; Israeli Competition Authority publications. Data current as of Q2 2026.