Moshe Schnitzer was a Romanian Jewish immigrant to Israel who became a key player in the international diamond trade.
16 Facts About Moshe Schnitzer
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2.
Moshe Schnitzer emigrated to British-ruled Palestine in 1934, and later studied history and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
3.
Moshe Schnitzer left university to work in a diamond polishing plant only under protest.
4.
Moshe Schnitzer learned sawing and cutting at Pickel's factory in Tel Aviv, where he became a work manager in 1944.
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Moshe Schnitzer fought in the Irgun, a Zionist paramilitary group that was seeking to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.
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Moshe Schnitzer became an Irgun member in 1941, and a soldier of the Israeli army after its amalgamation into the army in 1948.
7.
From 1967 to 1993 Moshe Schnitzer was President of the Israel Diamond Exchange.
8.
Moshe Schnitzer was the President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses from 1968 to 1972, and from 1978 to 1982.
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Moshe Schnitzer was responsible for the establishment in 1982 of the Schnitzer Foundation for Research on the Israeli Economy and Society at Bar-Ilan University, dedicated to funding academic research on economic and social topics.
10.
Moshe Schnitzer arranged to establish the Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Museum in Ramat Gan in 1986 and was the museum's Chairman until July 2003.
11.
Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Golda Meir both used Moshe Schnitzer to convey messages to the Soviet Union under the disguise of conducting diamond transactions.
12.
Moshe Schnitzer was awarded the Israel Prize in 2004, the highest civilian award given by Israel.
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Moshe Schnitzer was awarded the Order of King Leopold of Belgium for his contribution to the international diamond industry.
14.
Moshe Schnitzer was given an honorary doctorate from Bar-Ilan University.
15.
Moshe Schnitzer's son, Shmuel Schnitzer, was a president of the IDE and the WFDB.
16.
Moshe Schnitzer realized that our strength lay in our ability to complement one another, working together as an international network of colleagues, rather than as competitors.