Cohen served as IDE General Manager for more than 25 years.
The President and the Board of the Israel Diamond Exchange has issued a statement mourning the recent death of Michael Cohen, the first General Manager of the Exchange, who served from 1952 to 1978.
During the early 1960s, Cohen, who passed away last month at the age of 97, was instrumental in negotiations to establish the diamond exchange complex on a then virtually empty lot in Ramat Gan, just opposite the Tel Aviv train station.
"For more than a decade he worked alongside my father, Moshe Schnitzer, expanding and strengthening the exchange complex into the ultra-modern and most secure diamond trading center in the world," Schnitzer said.
"Like many of this generation of industry giants, he continued to work in the industry, as a private lawyer, until well into his 80s. May his memory be blessed."
Meanwhile, Cohen's son, Ehud (Udi) Cohen, said: "A lawyer by training, my father was present at the birth of the Israel Diamond Exchange as we know it today. He was instrumental not only in facilitating the transfer of the exchange from southern Tel Aviv to its current location in Ramat Gan, but also in its exponential growth.
