IDE President Shmuel Schnitzer made mention of the successful International Diamond Week event that took place last week, the recent changes to the Rapaport price list, recent company financial events at the bourse and also sent optimistic greetings ahead of the Jewish New Year.
Rabbi Meir Lau, the rabbi of Tel Aviv and Yafo, and former Grand Rabbi of Israel, on Sunday gave his blessings to IDE members for the Jewish New Year that takes place next week.
"Every year we have a tradition of greeting Rabbi Lau to bless us," said IDE President Schnitzer. "Last week we finished the International Diamond Week excellently. The occasion was above and beyond what we expected and good deals were done and people came back to life during the week, until Martin Rapaport ruined the mood. Rapaport did something that should not have been done and without any regard for the State of Israel and the diamond industry in particular.
Schnitzer also spoke about the reported collapse of diamond companies in the bourse. "All the consequences of these reports are being dealt with strongly. We will not hesitate to take harsh measures and are involving the police, too. We have formed two committees with unlimited authority, made up of members of management and IDE members to carry out the law regarding firms that have gone bankrupt and also regarding the people around them who took advantage of the situation to make profits," he noted.
"We have found a suspect relating to the disappearance of a package of diamonds in the bourse," said Schnitzer. "I'm shocked from what I saw in a security film. The suspect has been kicked out of the exchange for two weeks and if Exchange is the next Board session finds that things have been done intentionally, we won't show any mercy. If people take advantage of hard times to do things that should not be done, the management will act strongly, "he added.
Schnitzer also spoke about the progress of negotiations with the tax authorities and his expectations for the Jewish new year. "In the last 10 days there has been significant progress in negotiations with the tax authorities. I hope after the holidays we will be able to sign agreements that will last for many years to come. We want to finish everything quickly because each passing day without an agreement is not good for us.
Speaking about price cuts for rough goods by De Beers, Schnitzer said: "Recently, price adjustments have been carried out by De Beers as well as the size of sights ahead of the upcoming holiday season have decreased. The year 2016 is expected to be much better than the past year. I wish you a little more optimism for the coming year, all the best and happy new year ", he concluded.
IsDMA President Kobi Korn told the audience that in his more than 25 years in the diamond trade, he had never seen such events as the recent cases of financial difficulties. "We worked for more than 12 hours a day in order to deal with the situation," he said, while wishing everyone a happy new year.
Greetings of the season were also given by Shmuel Mordechai and Shlomo Eshed, while the event was concluded by a speech on the Torah and seasonal greetings by Rabbi Lau.
