Israel sold $260 million worth of finished diamonds abroad last year and diamond exports continue to be one of the country’s chief sources of foreign currency, Abraham Schnitzler, chairman of the Diamond Industrialists Association, reported here today. He said Israel’s best customer for diamonds was the United States, followed by Japan and Hong Kong. According to Schnitzler, though the diamond industry is booming it is short of manpower and immigrants lacking specific skills or professions are being diverted to it. Schnitzler said that a group of 125 Jewish emigres recently arrived from the Soviet Georgian Republic are presently undergoing training as diamond polishers and cutters.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.