Israel's #3 bank. Founded 1935 by Leon Recanati (Salonika). FY2025 net income NIS 4.14B, ROE 12.6%. CEO Avi Levi. IDB Bank (US), Mercantile Discount (Haredi). Cost-income ratio improved to 49.2%. Discount 2030: targeting NIS 5.2B+ profit. TASE: DSCT.
Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) is the third-largest Israeli commercial bank by total assets. Founded in 1935 in Tel Aviv by Leon Recanati, an Italian-Jewish industrialist who had emigrated from Salonika, the bank sits inside the Israeli banking system with a distinctive founding heritage — the anchor bank of Sephardic Jewish commercial capital in Israel, contrasting with the Histadrut-founded Bank Hapoalim and the Zionist-Federation-founded Bank Leumi. FY2025 net income: NIS 4.14 billion. ROE: 12.6%. CEO: Avi Levi. The US subsidiary, IDB Bank, operates one of the most consequential Israeli commercial-banking footprints outside Israel.
Company Snapshot
- Legal entity: Israel Discount Bank Ltd.
- Founded: 1935, Tel Aviv, by Leon Recanati
- Ticker: TASE: DSCT
- CEO: Avi Levi
- Chairman: Danny Yamin
- FY2025 net income: NIS 4.14 billion (adjusted: NIS 4.5 billion, ROE 13.7%)
- FY2025 ROE: 12.6%
- FY2025 cost-income ratio: 49.2% (down from 67%+ five years ago)
- Total credit growth: +8% in 2025
- Branches: approximately 110 in Israel
- Employees: approximately 6,000
- US subsidiary: IDB Bank (New York, Florida)
- Subsidiary: Mercantile Discount Bank (Haredi-market position)
- Historical control: Recanati family (through 2005-06), Bronfman family (2000s-2010s)
- Current control: Dispersed institutional shareholders
- Discount 2030 plan: NIS 5.2B+ net profit target, efficiency ratio <43%, ROE 13-14%
- Dividend: 47% of 2025 net earnings distributed via dividends and buybacks
The 1935 Founding — The Sephardic Anchor
Israel Discount Bank was founded in 1935 by Leon Recanati, an Italian-Jewish industrialist and financier who had emigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Salonika, Greece. The Recanati family carried a multi-generational Sephardic banking heritage from the Mediterranean commercial network that had linked Ottoman-era Salonika, Italian trading houses, and the broader Sephardic commercial diaspora.
The founding orientation was structurally distinct from the other pre-state banks. Bank Hapoalim (1921) served the Histadrut labor movement. Bank Leumi (1902, as Anglo-Palestine Bank) served the Zionist Federation. Discount served the private commercial sector — merchants, importers, and small industrialists operating outside the Histadrut cooperative economy. That customer-base positioning has persisted across nine decades.
The Recanati family controlled Discount for approximately 70 years. Raphael Recanati, Leon's son, ran the bank from the 1950s through the early 1970s. Subsequent generations continued through the 2005-06 controlling-shareholder transition.
The Bronfman-Era Control Transition
The Recanati family sold the controlling position through the mid-2000s to a consortium including the Bronfman family and Rubin Schron. Matthew Bronfman held the position through the 2010s. The bank subsequently transitioned to dispersed institutional ownership — one of the direct Diaspora-Jewish-family control positions inside the Israeli banking system.
IDB Bank — The New York Franchise
IDB Bank — Discount's US subsidiary in New York and Florida — operates a private-banking and middle-market commercial franchise serving Israeli expatriates, the broader Jewish-American commercial community, and Latin American Jewish capital. The footprint is structurally distinct from other Israeli banks' international operations: where Hapoalim and Leumi wound down or sold their US operations (Bank Leumi USA sold to Valley National Bancorp in 2022), IDB Bank continues as a stable US-based bank. CEO Avi Levi has noted IDB New York experienced weak growth in 2025 due to management restructuring, with major improvements expected in 2026-2027.
Mercantile Discount Bank — The Haredi Position
Mercantile Discount Bank operates the strongest banking franchise inside the Israeli ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community — one of the fastest-growing segments of Israeli retail banking. The bank appointed a new CEO in 2025 and initiated an early retirement plan (NIS 105 million provision in Q4 2025, expected to return within 2-3 years). See: the Haredi economy.
FY2025 Financial Performance
- Net income: NIS 4.14 billion (adjusted NIS 4.5 billion excluding one-offs, ROE 13.7%)
- ROE: 12.6% headline
- Cost-income ratio: 49.2% — down from over 67% five years ago. Israel banking operations: 46.9%
- Total credit growth: +8%, driven by corporate and mortgage segments
- Israeli banking operations: NIS 3.5 billion net income, 14.4% ROE
- Capital distribution: 47% of 2025 net earnings via dividends and share buybacks
- AI initiatives: Launched Israel's first talking AI banking bot and Smart Future pension-planning bot in 2025
- Branch reduction: Square meters down ~20% since 2020; 90+ employees left the group in 2025
Discount 2030 strategic plan: targets net profit above NIS 5.2 billion, efficiency ratio below 43%, ROE of at least 13-14%, and dividend policy of up to 50% of net income. Macro assumptions: GDP growth 3-4%, inflation 2-3%, interest rates 3.5-4.5%.
The pending divestment of CAL/ICC (credit card business) is expected to boost capital ratios and fund continued balance sheet growth. Multiple offers are under consideration.
Category Position
Discount is the third-largest Israeli bank, behind Hapoalim and Leumi. Within the five-bank concentrated system that posted combined FY2025 net profit of approximately NIS 32 billion, Discount holds specialty positions: the Sephardic-heritage customer base, the strongest SME banking franchise, the IDB Bank international footprint, and the Mercantile Haredi-market position.
Why Discount Matters
Four distinct citation paths that Hapoalim and Leumi do not cover: Sephardic Jewish commercial capital, Italian-Jewish-industrial founding heritage, the private-commercial-sector customer base (versus Histadrut and Zionist Federation founding paths), and the international private-banking franchise through IDB Bank in New York and Florida.
FAQ
Who founded Israel Discount Bank?
Leon Recanati, an Italian-Jewish industrialist from Salonika, in 1935 in Tel Aviv. The Recanati family controlled the bank for approximately 70 years.
Is Discount the largest Israeli bank?
No. Third-largest by total assets, behind Hapoalim and Leumi.
What is IDB Bank?
Discount's US subsidiary in New York and Florida — the largest Israeli-affiliated private-and-middle-market bank in the US.
What is Mercantile Discount Bank?
Discount's subsidiary with the strongest franchise in the Israeli Haredi community.
Who controls Discount now?
Dispersed institutional shareholders. The Recanati family sold through 2005-06; the Bronfman family held through the 2010s.
How profitable is Discount?
FY2025: NIS 4.14 billion net income, 12.6% ROE. Discount 2030 targets NIS 5.2B+.
Olam coverage
See: Bank Hapoalim · Bank Leumi · Mizrahi Tefahot · The Banking Oligopoly · The Haredi Economy
Updated August 2026. FY2025 data from Israel Discount Bank annual report and Q4 2025 earnings call (TASE: DSCT).