He was the world treasurer and the chairman of the executive in the Claims Conference, member of international commissions on property restitution and a champion for the needs of holocaust survivors.

[13] Prior to the war Sanbar was a member of a social club founded by Erik Molnár, where he was exposed to various economic theories.

[19] Earlier and prior to WWII, at the age of seventeen, he won a writing competition in his hometown on a play focused on the Land of Israel.

[39][16] Through his work in the Ministry of Finance Sanbar promoted the development of industry and science, replacing governmental loans with research grants and by establishing the first scientific complexes nearby university campuses.

[46][47] As result of the World Economic Conference held in Jerusalem, he complied with requests of Prime Minister Eshkol and foreign investors to serve as vice chairperson of the newsly founded Israel Corporation and in charge of its investment policy.

[54][55][56] In this capacity, he was charged with coordinating the government efforts preventing prices spiral and inflation, triggered by security threats that forced further taxation.

[57] Sanbar orchestrated the "package deal" signed with the Histadrut, allowing increased taxation alongside wage growth, supported by the industry's willingness to absorb growing costs of production.

[58][59] The ministry of commerce and industry was focused during this time in promoting legislation concerning consumer protection and prevention of unjust competition.

[60] Sanbar was also involved in recommending the development of Merkava battle tanks for its positive aspect in terms of Israel's industry.

His term in office was characterized by a series of events which made it one of the most complex times in the history of Israeli economy: the budgetary consequences of the Yom Kippur War, the 1970s energy crisis which quadrupled prices of gas in Israel and the increase in expenses due to a renewed arms race in the Middle East following the Six Day War.

[69] For the first time, the central bank was given responsibility supervising the foreign exchange market, and devaluation of the Israeli pound were being done in relation to the currency basket instead of the American dollar.

Despite leaving the civil service, in the years 1977–1981 he accepted Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's request to chair a governmental commission on municipal affairs, on a volunteer basis.

Despite support in the Knesset and by the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel, objections by Finance Minister Yoram Aridor brought forward only partial implementation.

[116] Additionally, he incorporated a new business approach, subjugating the bank's aid towards insolvency solely to corporations taking actual steps to better their own state of affairs.

[126][127] At the time Sanbar was involved in deliberations between the Israeli and Soviet chambers of commerce in forming an economic and industrial cooperation agreement.

[129] Bank Leumi embraced during these years a policy of corporate social responsibility and, among other things, funded the restoration of Bialik House.

[139] As an arbitrator, Sanbar was also involved in various cases of public interest: in 1978 he resolved the wage disputes in the merchant navy, in 1986 he was a mediator in conflicts raised by the printed press outlets towards possible legislation enabling commercial broadcasting on television.

[143] At the same time, Sanbar was also involved in Uriel Reichman's attempt of formulating a proposed Constitution of Israel, a final draft of which was presented in 1988.

[144] Sanbar's main roles (as head of organizations) in his volunteer work for non-governmental social and cultural organizations included the following: In 1969, Prime Minister Golda Meir appointed Sanbar to draft an alternative plan to that made by the United Nations on dealing with settlement of Palestinian refugees and compensations on abandoned properties.

[153] He had drafted an economic-political development plan, which was initially shelved due to the negotiations started by UN Special Representative Gunnar Jarring, but was reintroduced three years later, when prime minister Meir had asked Sanbar, then in his position of governor of the central bank, to update the proposal and introduce it before the World Bank and in his work sessions with Robert McNamara.

[156] Later, he presented prime minister Rabin with an economic plan for negotiating the issue of Palestinian refugees with neighboring Arab countries, but it was not put forward for discussion.

[157] In 1969, Sanbar was among the founding members of the “Rehovot Group” led by Amos de-Shalit, a non-governmental think tank focused on articulating economic and social policies for Israel, while taking under consideration the needs of its Arab population.

On its first year of action, the trust put forward two million Israeli pounds towards water facilities, basic health services and vocational trainings.

[162] The Rehabilitation Trust continued to exist for more than two decades, however its actions varied and in later years focused on humanitarian aid surrounding the Israel-Lebanon border and the Good Fence policy.

[168][169] In 1979, Sanbar began to head the association for creating a museum in honor of painter Marcel Janco at the artists’ colony of Ein Hod.

[190] Sanbar was among the founders of the World Jewish Restitution Organization[191] and in 2000 published a research book titled “Holocaust Gold From The Victims to Switzerland: The Paths of the Nazi Plunder”.

[196] In 2011, he was appointed as honorary member of the European Shoah Legacy Institute, a title given to only six individuals including Czech President Václav Havel and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel.

On Israel's 50th anniversary in 1998, he was the main speaker at the annual memorial service opening the events of Yom HaShoah at Yad Vashem.

In 2008, he advised minister Rafi Eitan in the creation of an emergency plan for providing a safety net to pension funds in Israel.

Among those who spoke during the service were Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Karnit Flug, Julius Berman, Colette Avital, Rafi Eitan and others.