LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Lev Leviev: Diamonds
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Lev Leviev is one of Israel’s richest men. He built his enormous fortune trading in diamonds with Apartheid-era South Africa. His company now buys diamonds from the repressive Angolan government. Leviev uses profits from diamond sales to fuel the conflict in Palestine and Israel by funding the construction of suburban developments for Israeli settlers on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, undermining the prospects for Middle East peace, and threatening farmers' ability to survive and remain in their homes. Leviev’s diamonds are “conflict diamonds” in a broad sense of the term, funding repression in Angola and violations of international law in Palestine.
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Israeli’s channel 2 news reports that Israeli diamond and property magnate Lev Leviev will make London his home base. Leviev is making a move with his family to monitor the progress of AFI development, (the Russian property) unit of leviev Africa Israel investments.
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(Rapaport...February 7, 2005) The decision by Israeli diamond dealer Lev Leviev not to purchase Sirius Diamonds leaves one of Canada's arctic territories hunting for a new buyer. The government of the Northwest Territories forced Sirius into receivership mid-year 2004 and has since lost $3 million on the facility located in Yellowknife.
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In the years since he introduced his son into Israel’s blood covenant with the almighty, Lev Leviev has performed more than a thousand ritual circumcisions — many on the sons of employees in his ever-expanding business empire. In those years, Leviev has gone from impoverished immigrant to the man who broke the De Beers international diamond cartel. His companies build vast shopping malls, housing projects, highways and railways throughout Israel, the former Soviet Union and Western Europe. He owns everything from diamond mines in Angola to a string of 7-Elevens in Texas. Recently he has been buying up iconic American properties, including the former New York Times Building in Manhattan for a reported $525 million.
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The Israeli-Russian tycoon Lev Leviev inaugurated Angola’s first cutting unit on Nov. 3. After opening a cutting company in Namibia, the diamond kingpin now wants to build new plants in Botswana and South Africa.
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Leviev dismisses these claims, preferring to focus on the benefits his relationship brings Angola. “The government of Angola has obviously profited from this venture,” Leviev says. According to his figures, in pre-Leviev 1998, Angola’s tax revenue from diamonds was under $10 million. But the Leviev era is different. Tax revenue from diamonds totaled $60 million in 2000 and was already at $49 million after the first nine months of 2001. Leviev says he expects that once Angola’s mining sector becomes more formalized and new ventures start producing diamonds, revenue benefiting Angola could exceed $100 million.
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