Hah! finally got an agent to agree. put in a request with the airline. will take 10 weeks. Doubtful AC will agree.
This clause/exception of refunding TLV routed AC flights to credit card, is in the waiver policies of the airline - the same one that says any cancellations by AC after sometime in April are nonrefundable back to Credit card.
So it looks like you got a competent Chase rep that read the rules correctly, and submitted the refund as per the waiver.
If this is the case, you should definitely expect a refund to your CC/points