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The
Diamond industry in Israel is an important world
player in producing cut diamonds for wholesale.
History
Since the fifteenth century, when an Antwerp Jewish
diamond cutter Lodewyk van Berken invented the scaif,
diamond cutting was one of traditional Jewish crafts.
The Israeli diamond industry began in 1937, before
the Declaration of the Establishment of the State
of Israel, when the first diamond polishing plant
was opened in Petah Tikva by refugee experts from
Holland.[1] 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.[2] The value
of exports was over £P.3,200,000 mainly to the USA,
Canada and India. |
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