The lawsuit follows an abrupt leadership change after the Amir brothers acquired a controlling stake in the retail giant for NIS 1.5 billion
Uri Watermann, the former chief executive of Shufersal, has taken Israel’s largest supermarket chain to court. The lawsuit, filed in the Tel Aviv Regional Labour Court, seeks NIS 5,799,299 in damages.
The legal action centers on what Watermann describes as cynical exploitation, deception, and his sudden removal from the company after new ownership took the reins in 2024.
What happened at Shufersal
Watermann held senior executive positions at Shufersal for roughly seven years, first running the Be chain and later serving as CEO of the entire operation. During that stretch, he steered the company through what has been characterized as a significant and challenging period.
Brothers Shlomo and Yossef Amir completed their acquisition of a 24.99% stake in Shufersal, a deal valued at NIS 1.5 billion, around late February 2024. The Amir brothers, who previously developed the Freshmarket supermarket chain, moved quickly to assume key leadership roles within the company.
What followed, according to Watermann’s legal filing, was a rapid unraveling. His departure from Shufersal was described as happening “overnight.” Watermann’s statement of claim alleges that the process surrounding his termination lacked both fairness and transparency, and that a snowball effect began with the transfer of control and ended with him being pushed out in a manner he considers deceptive.
The Amir brothers’ takeover
The Amir brothers’ NIS 1.5 billion acquisition of a 24.99% stake represents one of the more significant ownership shifts in Israeli retail in recent years. The acquisition involved financing support from Discount Bank, with the full stake valued at around NIS 6 billion.
NIS 5,799,299, the amount Watermann is seeking, comes to roughly $1.6 million at current exchange rates. The precision of the figure, down to the last shekel, suggests a carefully itemized claim covering specific contractual entitlements, severance terms, and potentially damages for the manner of dismissal.
