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Israel
Diamonds – Official Award Medal
1974 Bronze Medal 59mm (96.71 grams)
Reference: ICMC# 16043595
Upon a diamond-shaped geometric figure, the Diamond Exchange building in Ramat Gan.
Wheels of industry around the world, an expression of Israel’s import and export.
Edge Lettering:
STATE OF ISRAEL in Hebrew and English
Medal Notes:
The diamond industry in Israel, which exports diamonds and gems polished in Israel, has become the largest of its kind in the world. Its beginnings date back to the thirties, with the arrival of diamond merchants from the Low Countries. Most of its activities are conducted from the “Diamond Exchange” building in Ramat Gan, one of the most modern buildings for the international trade of rough and polished diamonds.
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 The Diamond industry of Israel is an important world player in producing cut diamonds for wholesale. In 2010, Israel became the chair of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. As of 2016, cut diamonds constituted 23.2% of Israel’s total exports and they were the country’s biggest export product, amounting to 12% of the world’s production.
Pre-state beginnings
What was to become the Israeli diamond industry began in 1937, eleven years before the State of Israel was established, when the first diamond polishing plant was opened in Petah Tikva by refugee experts from the Netherlands. In 1938 the 15% import duty on imported rough stones was removed. By 1944 the industry employed 3,300 workers in 33 factories, with £P 1,320,000 capital investment, entirely Jewish. The value of exports was over £P 3,200,000 mainly to the United States, Canada, and India; it was the largest value of any single commodity exported from Mandatory Palestine that year.
Between 1944 and 1948 the industry suffered from the increasing lawlessness and in February 1948 closed down completely.
First years of the State of Israel
After a state was declared, the consumer economy was shifted to a war economy. This came at the height of a diamond crisis, as many war-torn economies were struggling to re-establish.
During the first fifteen years of Israel’s existence, diamonds and Jaffa oranges were the new state’s main export products.
After reaching its lowest point in the wake of the 1948 closedown, the industry has continued to grow, producing a world leader in the diamond industry.
Current state
In the beginning of the 21st century, Israel is one of the world’s three major centers for polished diamonds, alongside Belgium and India. Israel’s net polished diamond exports slid 22.8% in 2012 as polished diamond exports fell to $5.56 billion from $7.2 billion in 2011. Net exports of rough diamonds dropped 20.1% to $2.8 billion and net exports of polished diamonds slipped 24.9 percent to $4.3 billion, while net rough diamond imports dropped 12.9 percent to $3.8 billion. The United States is the largest market accounting for 36% of overall export market for polished diamonds while Hong Kong remains at second with 28 percent and Belgium at 8% coming in third.
In 2007, when diamonds still constituted almost 24% of Israel’s total exports, 12% of world diamonds (by their value) were polished in the country. In 2010 this number decreased to 9%. As of 2016, diamonds amounted to 28% of Israel’s total exports and they were still 12% of the world’s production.
Trading infrastructure
The industry is located in the “Diamond District”, located in Ramat Gan in the Tel Aviv District. The complex is made up of four buildings, interconnected with walkways. The entire trading operation takes place in this complex. The Diamond Tower in the district contains the world’s largest diamond trading floor.
Israel’s government funds a non-profit industry body, the Israel Diamond Institute, to represent organisations and institutions involved in Israel’s diamond industry.
Industry principles
The Israeli diamond industry guarantees all diamonds are 100% naturally made and participates in the Kimberley Process, a certification scheme whose goal is to ensure no blood diamonds enter the marketplace.
Some human rights campaigners, however, say the Kimberley Process defines conflict diamonds too narrowly, only relating to uncut stones, enabling Israel’s diamond-cutting industry to avoid attention. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, among others, has called for diamonds processed in Israel to be considered conflict diamonds.
 Israel (/ˈɪzriəl, ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل), officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel’s economic and technological center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although the state’s sovereignty over Jerusalem has only partial recognition.
Israel has evidence of the earliest migration of hominids out of Africa. Canaanite tribes are archaeologically attested since the Middle Bronze Age, while the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged during the Iron Age. The Neo-Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel around 720 BCE. Judah was later conquered by the Babylonian, Persian and Hellenistic empires and had existed as Jewish autonomous provinces. The successful Maccabean Revolt led to an independent Hasmonean kingdom by 110 BCE, which in 63 BCE however became a client state of the Roman Republic that subsequently installed the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE, and in 6 CE created the Roman province of Judea. Judea lasted as a Roman province until the failed Jewish revolts resulted in widespread destruction, expulsion of Jewish population and the renaming of the region from Iudaea to Syria Palaestina.[34] Jewish presence in the region has persisted to a certain extent over the centuries. In the 7th century the Levant was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Arabs and remained in Muslim control until the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Ayyubid conquest of 1187. The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt extended its control over the Levant in the 13th century until its defeat by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. During the 19th century, national awakening among Jews led to the establishment of the Zionist movement in the diaspora followed by waves of immigration to Ottoman and later British Palestine.
 In 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency, and rejected by Arab leaders. The following year, the Jewish Agency declared the independence of the State of Israel, and the subsequent 1948 Arab-Israeli War saw Israel’s establishment over most of the former Mandate territory, while the West Bank and Gaza were held by neighboring Arab states. Israel has since fought several wars with Arab countries, and it has since 1967 occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip (still considered occupied after 2005 disengagement, although some legal experts dispute this claim).[41][42][43][fn 4] It extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is the world’s longest military occupation in modern times.[fn 4][49] Efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have not resulted in a final peace agreement. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have been signed.
In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state. Israel is a representative democracy[neutrality is disputed] with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature. Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 32nd-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2017. The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentages of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. Israel has the highest standard of living in the Middle East, and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.
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