Arcadi Aleksandrovich Gaydamak (; ; born 8 April 1952 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) is a Russian-born French-Israeli businessman, philanthropist, and President of the Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organizations of Russia (KEROOR). In the 1990s he was awarded the French ''

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

'' and the '' Ordre du Mérite agricole'' for actions taken to rescue personnel in the War in Bosnia. He holds Israeli, Canadian, French, and Russian nationalities, as well as a diplomatic passport from

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. Gaydamak's net worth was valued between $700 million and $4 billion USD in 2007, but following a series of lawsuits, failed investments, and the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, his net worth declined significantly. Gaydamak invested in real estate in France and Israel, in Kazphosphate - the world's largest

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...

producer, in a gold mine and a metal processing plant in Kazakhstan, in the Russian weekly ''

Moskovskiye Novosti ''Moskovskiye Novosti'' (, ''Moscow News'') was a Russian-language daily newspaper in Russia relaunched in 2011. The paper - by then a 'youth-oriented' free sheet handed out at more than 850 places around Moscow - on 23 January 2014 announced th ...

'', in food distribution in Russia and in oil fields and granaries in Angola. In Israel, his assets included the Bikur Holim hospital in Jerusalem, the Beitar Jerusalem football club, 15% of Africa Israel Holdings, and 99FM radio station. His significant and rapid investments in Israel made him a celebrity in Israel during the mid-2000s, with many mentions in the local media.

Biography

Arcadi Gaydamak was born in Moscow, the capital of the

. At the age of 20, he was one of the first

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s to

immigrate Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short-t ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

from

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

's Soviet Union and receive Israeli citizenship. He lived on Kibbutz Beit HaShita, and studied

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

at an

ulpan An ulpan (), plural ''ulpanim'', is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning "studio", "teaching", or "instruction". The ulpan is designed to teach adult immigrants to Israel the basic language s ...

. He said he originally intended to serve in the

Israeli Army The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...

, but ended up moving to France, where he opened a translation bureau. In 1982, Gaydamak Translations opened a branch in Canada. During that period he commenced international business, in import and export. After the collapse of the USSR, he built up ties in Russia and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, and formed various business organizations across Europe. Gaydamak owns a home in

Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...

, Israel. He is married to Irene Tzirolnicova, with whom he has three children. He speaks

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, French, and English. He also speaks Portuguese and

on a basic level. In December 2008, Gaydamak returned to Russia, settling in Moscow. In February 2009, it was reported that he was seeking to regain his Russian citizenship, lost when he emigrated to Israel decades earlier.

Political career

In February 2007, seeing the social issues in Israel, Gaydamak founded a party devoted to socio-economic issues, which he named

Social Justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

. Although the organization was established as a social movement, he said it could become a political party if the circumstances warranted it. In late 2007, the party contemplated taking part in the 2008 municipal elections. Gaydamak ran for

mayor of Jerusalem The Mayor of the City of Jerusalem is head of the executive branch of the political system in Jerusalem. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within Jerusal ...

in November 2008, but his party won no seats on the city council. During the campaign, Gaydamak courted the

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

Palestinian vote. Gaydamak approached the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, Palestinian political figures and media, and came away with a near endorsement.

Sport clubs and media ownership

In July 2005, Gaydamak became sponsor of the Hapoel Jerusalem

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team. The following month he donated $400,000 to the

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925, Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory ...

Bnei Sakhnin Bnei Sakhnin F.C. (, , ) is an Israeli professional football club based at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin. They are the most successful club among the Arab-Israeli clubs in the country, having won the State Cup in 2004. History Early years Bn ...

football club. On the same day, Gaydamak announced the purchase of 55% of the ownership of Beitar Jerusalem, and two days later he announced the acquisition of full ownership. Gaydamak is the patron of several Jewish charities and president of the Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organizations of Russia (KEROOR), Russia's oldest Jewish umbrella group. In January 2006, Portsmouth F.C. was sold to his son, Alexandre Gaydamak by

Milan Mandarić Milan Mandarić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Мандарић; born 5 September 1938) is a Serbian-American businessman who has owned a string of businesses and association football clubs, including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. H ...

. Gaydamak later sold the club to Ali al-Faraj in 2009. In the summer of 2008, Gaydamak said his son Alexandre was owner of Portsmouth F.C., and it was confirmed by the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. In March 2006, he announced having bought the French newspaper ''

France Soir ''France Soir'' () was a French newspaper that prospered in physical format during the 1950s and 1960s, reaching a circulation of 1.5 million in the 1950s. It declined rapidly under various owners and was relaunched as a populist tabloid in 2006 ...

'' via his company ''

Moscow News ''The Moscow News'', which began publication in 1930, was Russia's oldest English-language newspaper. Many of its feature articles used to be translated from the Russian language ''Moskovskiye Novosti.'' History Soviet Union In 1930 ''The Mo ...

''. He had purchased the Russian ''

Moskovskie Novosti ''Moskovskiye Novosti'' (, ''Moscow News'') was a Russian-language daily newspaper in Russia relaunched in 2011. The paper - by then a 'youth-oriented' free sheet handed out at more than 850 places around Moscow - on 23 January 2014 announced th ...

'' newspaper in 2004, fired some senior journalists, and changed the paper's mandate to a firmly pro-government one, appointing a pro-

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

journalist as editor-in-chief. In June 2007, Gaydamak negotiated a deal to buy the non-

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

supermarket chain Tiv Taam. It was reported that he was planning to make the stores comply with Jewish religious practice: close them on

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

and halt the sale of pork products. A few days later the deal fell through, resulting in a lawsuit. In July 2009, Gaydamak announced his decision to give up the ownership of Beitar Jerusalem in favor of Itzik Kornfein and Guma Aguiar. Kornfein would handle buying and selling players, while Aguair would engage in financing.

Philanthropy

Gaydamak has donated to many Israeli organizations, including

Magen David Adom The Magen David Adom (, abbr. MDA, pronounced ''MAH-dah'' per its Hebrew acronym, ) is Israel's national emergency medicine, emergency medical, Emergency management, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The literal meaning of the name is ...

and

Hatzolah Hatzalah, also spelled Hatzolah, (; ) is the title used by many Jewish volunteer emergency medical service (EMS) organizations serving mostly areas with Jewish communities around the world, giving medical service to patients regardless of the ...

. He also pledged $50 million to the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

, but withdrew the offer. He ended up donating $10 million. During the

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

Gaydamak constructed a tent-village on the Nitzanim beach, hosting thousands of families who fled the rocket-ridden North and had no place to go. Gaydamak's contributions totaled $15 million (about $500,000 a day). In November 2006, he funded a one-week-long vacation in

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

for hundreds of

Sderot Sderot (, , ; , sometimes Romanized as "Sederot") is a western Negev city and former development town in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. In , it had a population of . Sderot is located less than a mile from Gaza St ...

residents who have experienced rocket attacks from Gaza.

Controversy

Angola affair

In October 2009, Gaydamak and French magnate Pierre Falcone were convicted by a French court of organizing

arms trafficking Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms, explosives, and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal tra ...

during the civil war in 1993-98 in the amount of 790 million dollars, in violation of the

Lusaka Protocol The Lusaka Protocol, initialed in Lusaka, Zambia on 31 October 1994, attempted to end the Angolan Civil War by integrating and disarming UNITA and starting national reconciliation. Both sides signed a truce as part of the protocol on 15 November ...

. He was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison. But his conviction on the arms dealing charges was overturned by the Court of Appeal in Paris on 29 April 2011. France attempted to extradite Gaydamak from Israel but Israeli law had changed in the interim. Peter Storrie said that this situation helped precipitate the financial crisis at Portsmouth Football Club. The club was owned by Gaydamak's son Alexandre, and the charges against his father caused banks to withdraw

overdraft An overdraft occurs when something is withdrawn in excess of what is in a current account. For financial systems, this can be funds in a bank account. In these situations the account is said to be "overdrawn". In the economic system, if there i ...

privileges from the club, and to call the outstanding balances on its loans. In November 2015, Gaydamak began a 3-year sentence in prison.

Bank Hapoalim affair

In October 2009, Gaydamak was indicted in the

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

District Court on suspicions of money laundering through

Bank Hapoalim Bank Hapoalim ( lit. ''The Workers' Bank'') is one of the largest banks in Israel, established in 1921. The bank offers a broad range of financial services to retail, corporate, and institutional customers, with a focus on retail banking services. ...

, together with several managers of the bank and the Italian-Israeli businessman Nahum Galmor. In a plea deal, charges for laundering money were dropped and Gaydamak received a one-year suspended sentence and fine.

Awards and recognition

Gaydamak won two citations from the French government: ''Chevalier de l'

'' and the '' Ordre du Mérite agricole'' for helping to rescue two captured French pilots in the War in Bosnia in the 1990s, as well as two French intelligence officers captured by rebel factions in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. Because these operations were secret, the citations referred to his contribution to agriculture. Former French interior minister

Charles Pasqua Charles Victor Pasqua (18 April 192729 June 2015) was a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's ''cohabitation'' government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government ...

confirmed this, saying that President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

had personally authorized the citations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaydamak, Arcadi 1952 births Arms traders Beitar Jerusalem F.C. Canadian billionaires Canadian investors Canadian newspaper publishers (people) Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian soccer chairmen and investors French billionaires French chief executives French football chairmen and investors French investors 21st-century French newspaper publishers (people) French people of Russian-Jewish descent 21st-century French philanthropists Israeli billionaires Israeli chief executives Israeli emigrants to Canada Israeli emigrants to France Israeli football chairmen and investors Israeli investors Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Israeli philanthropists Israeli publishers (people) Canadian Jews Canadian philanthropists Living people Knights of the Order of Agricultural Merit Mitterrand–Pasqua affair Naturalized citizens of Canada Naturalized citizens of France Naturalized citizens of Israel Recipients of the Order of Agricultural Merit Russian chief executives Russian football chairmen and investors Soviet emigrants to Israel Soviet Jews Portsmouth F.C. directors and chairmen Jewish Angolan history Russian businesspeople in Canada Russian businesspeople in Israel Russian businesspeople in France