Top Israelis accused of illegal diamond deals
Published by MAC on 2004-02-18
Top Israelis accused of illegal diamond deals
The deadly web cast over the last decade by commerce in so-called "conflict diamonds" allegedly also involved Israeli citizens in the highest ranks of the government. The accusation is contained in a law suit filed in Tel Aviv last week by former border guard and advisor to the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Yossi Kamisa.
Kamisa (far from innocent of corrupt involvement himself) claims that top Israelis in the country's Foreign Defense and Defense Export Organisation (SIBAT) connived in 2000 with diamond merchant Dan Gertler, to train the Congolese army in exchange for diamond concessions worth up to a billion dollars.