The SGBL bank denied the claim, and associates described Sehanoui as an “outspoken Zionist.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Accusations that a major Lebanese bank helped Hezbollah finance attacks on Americans are drawing renewed attention after diplomat Morgan Ortagus entered a relationship with the bank’s chairman, Anton Sehnaoui, Ynet reports.

The 2019 U.S. lawsuit—filed against SGBL and several other Lebanese institutions—claimed the banks facilitated financial channels that aided Hezbollah operations in Iraq between 2004 and 2011. SGBL rejected the allegations at the time, and people close to Sehnaoui described him as an “outspoken Zionist.”

The scrutiny comes only weeks after Ortagus finalized her divorce in November. Those familiar with the matter said her new relationship began after the split and was reported through the proper government procedures.

Ortagus, 43, has been a prominent figure in Republican foreign policy circles for more than a decade.

After early postings with the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Middle East, she developed an interest in Judaism, eventually converting.

In 2013, she married businessman Jonathan Weinstein in a ceremony performed by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was a longtime neighbor. The couple has a daughter, Adina.

Her public profile rose sharply during President Donald Trump’s first term, when she served as State Department spokesperson.

She later worked as deputy to Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, and this summer she joined the U.S. mission to the United Nations as an adviser. She also appeared frequently on Fox News before returning to government service.

Sehnaoui, 53, leads a banking network with branches in Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan and Monaco. He took control of SGBL in 2007 and expanded its operations to Abu Dhabi, France and Colorado, building an institution that now holds assets estimated at roughly $26 billion.

His background includes film production and publishing, along with a family lineage tracing back to Emir Bashir Shihab II, a ruler of early-19th-century Lebanon. Raised in Beirut, he later moved to the United States and studied business and banking at the University of Southern California.

While associates insist the allegations in the U.S. lawsuit misrepresent Sehnaoui’s views, the attention surrounding the case—and his new relationship with a senior Trump-aligned diplomat—has pushed the issue back into public view.