Israel "Lobbied US to Lift Gertler Sanctions"
March 22, 21
(IDEX Online) - Israel's Washington ambassador and the head of its Mossad intelligence agency were both reportedly involved in lobbying for sanctions to be lifted on mining magnate Dan Gertler.
They were successful, albeit briefly. The Trump administration froze his US assets in 2017 over allegations about his business activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It reversed that decision days before Biden took over. He re-imposed them within weeks.
The Bloomberg news website now reports that Mossad director Yossi Cohen, and Ron Dermer, then Israel's ambassador to the US made case for Gertler over many months, citing his philanthropy and "lots of relationships in the region that are important to Israel's interests".
Cohen reportedly also visited Congo in 2019 to meet Gertler, 47, and the former president Joseph Kabila.
The Treasury Department has accused Gertler, an Israeli citizen reputedly worth $1.2bn, of striking deals with the then-Congolese president Joseph Kabila that deprived the nation of $1.4bn in tax revenues.
Gertler (pictured) began trading diamonds in the late 1990s when Congo was in the middle of a bloody civil war. He has denied all allegations about his business activities there.