‘Our South Africa Moment Has Finally Arrived,’ Says One Leader
By Gal Beckerman
"Uzbekistan-born diamond mogul Lev Leviev announced late in August that his company, Africa-Israel, was drowning in debt of more than $5.5 billion that it could not repay. Over the next two days, shares in the company’s stock plummeted by more than one-third. It was relentless bad news for one of the world’s richest men. His holding and investment company had lost $1.4 billion since 2008, mostly due to failed real estate investments in the United States.
Watching Leviev’s precipitous downfall from the sidelines were pro-Palestinian activists. And they were cheering.
Though certainly not the cause of his financial collapse, for the past two years, these activists have singled out Leviev as one of their high-profile villains for his large contributions to West Bank settlements. And they have been effective gadflies. Several of the company’s major shareholders have divested their holdings from Africa-Israel after receiving complaints from clients. And at least two charities have declared publicly they will not accept Leviev’s contributions.
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i'm not sure he's all that broke. his real estate company Lidar is supposed to build a new settlement on land annexed from the town of Jayyous.
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