Israel was elected to handle the Chairmanship of the Kimberley Process (KP) from 2010, at the latest meeting of the KP in Namibia on November 5, 2009. Boaz Hirsch, Deputy Director General for Foreign Trade at Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, will officially serve as Chair. Hirsch said that the role of Chairmanship is one of great responsibility affecting millions of lives dependent on the diamond industry for their livelihood, and dozens of countries relying on the diamond industry for their economic development. He said that he saw Israel’s role as chair to be “in creating the momentum to improve the process and to suit it to the new challenges it faces.”

The decision was welcomed by Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Benjamin Ben-Eliezer who said, that “Israel’s assuming the Chairmanship of the Kimberley Process attests to the central role that the Israeli Diamond Industry plays in the international diamond trade”. Israel Diamond Controller and head of the Kimberley Process in Israel, Shmuel Mordechai, said that “Israel will push for the creation of an arbitration committee to settle differences of interpretation pertaining to Kimberley Process decisions, thus allowing the diamond regulation process to address issues as they arise.” Mordechai added that Israel was one of the founders of the Kimberley Process and has been a major factor in its development. Israel was the first country to issue a Kimberley Process Certificate in 2003.