Protocols & Policy · Policy
Bank of Israel says crypto cannot bypass sanctions
Ynetnews quotes Israel's central bank saying cryptocurrencies cannot serve as a means of circumventing sanctions and that the priority is maintaining trade ties, while Netanyahu says he will consider the criticism but do what he thinks best.
Israel's central bank says cryptocurrencies "cannot serve as a means of circumventing sanctions," pushing back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Friday suggestion that blockchain could help if banking sanctions hit, according to a Ynetnews English report [1]. Le Coin has not obtained the Bank of Israel's own published text; boi.org.il press pages remain blocked behind a Radware challenge [3].
Ynetnews attributes a further line to the bank: "The right course for Israel's economy is to maintain its economic relationships with our main trading partners and focus on preventing sanctions and their negative impact on the economy" [1]. Saturday coverage timed that statement around 12:35 p.m. ET (7:35 p.m. in Israel). Le Coin's DAE pack confirms boi.org.il press URLs still return a Radware interstitial, not the bank's own HTML, so the English lines above stay attributed to Ynetnews until a BoI primary is captured [3].
Responding to the bank on Channel 14, Netanyahu said he would take the criticism into account, The Times of Israel reported: "I hear the resistance; I am taking it into account," and "I thank the Bank of Israel for the advice, I listen, but I do what I think [is best]" [2].
Ynetnews says the bank's statement followed Netanyahu's Economy Channel interview remarks that Israel should prepare for possible banking sanctions and that cryptocurrency and blockchain were among options, and that he had ordered a plan; the same report says officials in Israel's economic ministries said they were unaware of any such initiative [1].
Neither side's quoted remarks, as carried by these outlets, announce a new law or a finished crypto plan.
Sources
- Ynetnews, "Bank of Israel rejects Netanyahu's crypto plan: 'Digital currencies cannot bypass sanctions,'" Oct. 24, 2026, https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/byqyxv93gl, accessed Oct. 24, 2026, 3:26 p.m. ET. Verbatim BoI English lines used above; Le Coin has not seen the Bank of Israel primary.
- The Times of Israel live blog, "Netanyahu says he'll consider BoI's criticism of his crypto sanctions plan, but will do what he thinks best," Oct. 24, 2026, about 1:59 p.m. ET, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-says-hell-consider-bois-criticism-of-his-crypto-sanctions-plan-but-will-do-what-he-thinks-best/, accessed Oct. 24, 2026, 3:26 p.m. ET.
- DAE pack, Bank of Israel primary-fetch status v1 (boi.org.il Radware-blocked; Ynet EN verbatim confirmed), /workspace/lecoin/drop/2026-10-24-bank-of-israel-netanyahu-crypto-sanctions/pack.v1.md, sha256 0c3d66fedf06ad9465960dcb9082ac49a32d510174cccef17638e118ebdbe415, accessed Oct. 24, 2026, 3:26 p.m. ET.
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