Mazal u' Bracha has been the Hebrew expression for sealing transactions in the international diamond trade for hundreds of years - in Amsterdam until World War II, and Antwerp since then. Literally, it means "luck and blessing". Sociologically, it means that if you default, the community of Jewish diamantaires will impose the sanction of
religious law, redline your credit, and you will be unable to take goods on approval, buy, borrow, trade, or continue in the business.
In the major Jewish diamond business centres - Antwerp, Ramat Gan (Tel Aviv), New York - the potency of this blessing has been waning under pressure of falling consumer demand, rising borrowing costs, company bankruptcies, government sanctions, and
sanctions-busting. And that was
before the Palestine war began.
On March 1, after
heavy lobbying by Israeli and American diamantaires - and despite resistance from the
Belgian businesses - new restrictions were imposed with the aim of driving Russian diamonds - rough and polished -
out of the major jewellery markets of Europe and the US. The new scheme has a catch, however. It is now the US Customs Service with whom diamond buyers and traders must shake hands.
In a rule issued on
March 1, the US Government requires importers to sign a statement declaring: "I certify that the non-industrial diamonds in this shipment were
not mined, extracted, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Russian Federation, notwithstanding whether such diamonds have been substantially transformed into other products outside of the Russian Federation."
Comment: For further insight into why the West in particular is suffering from this social contagion, the following interview which explores childhood attachment and the implications in psychological development is enlightening: