Eli Izhakoff is an American businessman in the international

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

and

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

industry, filling a variety of public positions since 1979.

Early career

Izhakoff is a partner at J. Izhakoff & Sons, a diamond manufacturing and import/export firm, with offices in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He joined the board of the Diamond Dealers Club in New York in 1979, later serving in senior roles, including chairman and secretary. In 1986, he became treasurer-general of the

World Federation of Diamond Bourses The World Federation of Diamond Bourses, founded in 1947, was created to provide bourses trading in rough and polished diamonds and precious stones with a common set of trading practices. It is composed of 27 member diamond bourses. Their headqua ...

and joined its executive committee. In January 1990, Izhakoff was elected president of the Diamond Dealers Club and conceived and formed the Diamond Industry Steering Committee, an umbrella organization of the four diamond trade associations in New York, and served as its first chairman.

World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB)

At the May 1991 World Diamond Congress in London, Izhakoff was elected president of the

(WFDB). He was re-elected in 1993 (Antwerp) and 1996 (Tel Aviv). During his presidency, the WFDB expanded, establishing new diamond bourses in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In June 1995, he helped organize an international diamond summit that highlighted Russia’s diamond industry. The event included a conference in Moscow and a tour of mining sites in the Republic of Sakha. At the summit, industry figures, including Izhakoff, Nicholas Oppenheimer,

Gary Ralfe Gary Ralfe is a South African businessman and former Managing Director of De Beers Group. Ralfe was educated at Michaelhouse School, South Africa and the University of Cambridge. In 1966, he joined Anglo American. Since 1974, he has effectively ...

De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...

, and

Maurice Tempelsman Maurice Tempelsman (born August 26, 1929) is a Belgian-American businessman, a diamond magnate and merchant. He was the longtime companion of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, former First Lady of the United States. Early life Tempelsman was born o ...

of Lazare Kaplan International, received awards from Sakha’s president, Mikhail Yefimovich Nikolayev. At the July 1998 World Diamond Congress in Bangkok, Izhakoff was named Honorary Life President of the WFDB.

World Diamond Council

Following the emergence of the conflict diamond crisis in Africa in the late 1990s, Izhakoff was requested by industry leaders to head a new organization that would coordinate efforts to end the trade in rough diamonds financing civil conflict. Called the

World Diamond Council The World Diamond Council is an organization representing the entire diamond value chain including representatives from diamond mining, manufacturing, trading and retail. The council was established in July 2000. The purpose was to create a system ...

(WDC), it was established at the World Diamond Congress in Antwerp, Belgium, in July 2000, and he was unanimously elected as its founding president. Over the three years that followed, Izhakoff worked together with government representatives from around the world and representatives of civil society, to create an international system that will regulate the flow of rough diamonds into the distribution pipeline, in order to eliminate the presence of merchandise from areas of civil conflict. The

Kimberley Process Certification Scheme The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is the process established in 2003 to prevent " conflict diamonds" from entering the mainstream rough diamond market by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/56 following recommendations in ...

was accepted an implemented in 2003, and endorsed by the United Nations Security Council. It is recognized as having reduced the number of conflict diamonds in the pipeline from more than 4 percent of the total to less than one tenth of 1 percent. In November 2006, Izhakoff, briefed G8 ministers in Moscow on the Kimberley Process and its success as a possible model to meet the challenges of global terror. A critical achievement was recorded during the 7thWorld Diamond Council Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, in July 2010, when the Kimberley Process was able to reach consensus on an agreement that would enable the renewal of rough diamond exports from the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe, solving a crisis that threatened to paralyze the rough diamond trade. Izhakoff had earlier invited the Kimberley Process to hold a mini-summit in St. Petersburg alongside the World Diamond Council, in a further attempt to reach agreement over Marange. As a result, a senior delegation from the government of Zimbabwe, including Minister of Mining Obert Moses Mpofu, and Zimbabwe's attorney general, Johanne Tomama, traveled to St. Petersburg for the meeting. So did a high-level delegation from the U.S. State Department led by Susan Page, Assistant U.S. Deputy Secretary of State. Just prior to the WDC Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg, Zimbabwe had released from custody Farai Maguwu, a local human rights activist who it earlier had been accused of providing false information prejudicial to the state in connection with the Marange diamond fields. During the meeting, Izhakoff publicly called on the Zimbabwe attorney general to drop the still-pending charges against Mr. Maguwu, and this eventually happened in October. In book he later contributed to about the period, Maguwu credited Izhakoff for helping obtain his release from custody and convincing the Zimbabwe authorities to drop the charges against him. When he stepped down as WDC President in 2013, he was elected Honorary Life President of the organization.

Panama

In 2014, Izhakoff was invited to assist in the development of a major project in the Republic of Panama, the goal of which was to establish the first dedicated diamond, colored gemstone and jewelry trading center in Latin America. Called the World Jewelry Hub, it also is the headquarters of Latin America's first recognized diamond bourse, the World Jewelry & Diamond Hub, Panama.

Recognition and awards

Izhakoff holds the titles of Honorary Chairman of the Diamond Industry Steering Committee, New York, USA; Honorary President of the Diamond Dealers Club, New York, USA; and Honorary Chairman of the Bangkok Diamonds and Precious Stones Exchange, Bangkok, Thailand. At the CIBJO Congress in Vancouver, Canada, in 2006, Izhakoff was named an Honorary Life President of CIBJO, The

World Jewellery Confederation The World Jewellery Confederation ( (CIBJO)), has its headquarters in Bern, Switzerland. It represents the interests of all involved in jewellery, gemstones, and precious metals, from mine to marketplace. History Founded in Paris in 1926 as BIBOA ...

. He has received the Officer of the Order of Leopold from the King of Belgium, the Rapaport Award for Corporate Social Responsibility, the Israel Diamond Industry Dignitary Award, the New York Diamond Industry Lifetime Achievement Award, Diamantaire of the Year from the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), the Medal of Honor from the Israel Diamond Institute, a special award from the Israel Diamond Exchange, the Andrea Palladio International Jewellery Award for Corporate and Social Responsibility, and special honors from the president of the Republic of Sakha, the government of Thailand, the government of South Africa and the Dubai Multi Commodities Center.

References

External links

Interview with Rough & Polished
(July 2015)
Interview with JCK Magazine
(July 2013)
Video: Israel Diamond Institute Honors World Diamond Council President Eli Izhakoff
(May 2013)
Video: Interview with Israel Diamond Industry Portal
(April 2013)
Video: Dubai Diamond Conference Honors World Diamond Council President Eli Izhakoff (March 2013)

(Nov. 17, 2011) * ttps://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/08/business/diamond-traders-act-on-africa-war-issue.html ״Diamond Traders Act on Africa War Issue״ New York Times, Sep. 8, 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Izhakoff, Eli Diamond dealers American businesspeople Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people)