The story
The first diamond cutting facility was opened in 1937 (Mandatory Palestine at the time), in Petach Tikva by two cousins Asher Anshel Daskal and Zvi Rosenberg professional diamantaires trained in Antwerp, originally from Romania during the British Mandate. The industry grew over the next seven years, but between 1944 and 1948 it suffered from the increasing lawlessness and in February 1948 closed down completely, with seemingly little chance of recovery.
After a new start and renewed growth, by the 1960s a trade association was established, which later evolved into the Diamond Exchange.
From 1967 to 1993 Moshe Schnitzer was President of the IDE, which grew rapidly under his direction. Exports of polished diamonds from Israel during this period increased from $200 million to $3.4 billion a year.
In 1968, the first building in the complex was opened: the 22-story Shimshon Tower, at the time one of the tallest buildings in Israel. During the 1980s, the Maccabi Tower and Noam Tower were constructed and in 1992 the tallest building in the complex was opened, the 32-story Diamond Tower.
From Wikipedia’s article on Israel Diamond Exchange, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4