Though not a single diamond had been mined in Israel, the country established itself firmly as the diamond capital of the world.
It was reported on this day in 1972, that Israel had become the world’s largest diamond salesman and developed its entire diamond industry by using imported rough stones.
Two out of three diamonds anywhere in the world had been polished in Israel.
In 1971, sales of the precious stones reached more than £100 million, according to Moshe Schnitzer, president a the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.
The polished diamond industry was established in Tel Aviv by a small group of Jewish refugees who escaped from Belgium and Holland during World War Two.