Israel, Lebanon, crooked banks and money laundering?

http://larouchepub.com/other/2005/3211hapoalim.html

Larouche/EIR has been writing about banks.

On March 6, Israeli police reportedly raided a branch of Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest bank. The police were investigating 'the largest money-laundering case in Israel's history'.

On the same day, police reportedly raided the offices of exiled Russian oligarch Vladimir Guzinsky, in search of evidence of money laundering.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Zvi Hefetz, Guzinsky's former business partner, 'will be questioned about his possible role in the affair'.

The Lyndon LaRouche theory is that these events are linked to the attempt to make Israel a more important financial centre.

According to Larouche, a senior City of London source stated: "my view on what is happening in Israel and Lebanon is that it has not only a geopolitical dimension, but a financial one. The background to these developments is the fact that Greek Cyprus joined the European Union in May 2004. What has followed is a phasing-out of Cyprus as a financial center for organized crime, drug traffickers, and money launderers, especially the Russian side of this business. Thus, alternative centers have to be found. In the region, Beirut and Tel Aviv become attractive alternatives, which could explain recent events in those two cities."

According to EIR/Larouche, Hariri's assassination ended the idea of making Beirut a major banking centre, for European and southwest Asia . Before his death, Hariri had proposed 'broad cooperation in gas, oil refining, and real estate projects in Russia, Lebanon, and the rest of Southwest Asia'.

(According to EIR/Larouche, a Swiss financial analyst has claimed that Geneva is a major financial centre for organized crime. Banker Edouard Stern was recently murdered in his Geneva apartment.)

EIR/Larouche claims the neo-cons want
1. to grab the region's oil and natural resources
2. throw the entire region into chaos and war.
3. make Tel Aviv the "globalized" financial center for the region.

EIR/Larouche lists those who are behind Bank Hapoalim and the attempt to make Israel a major financial centre.