Dan
Gertler, stands out as a central figure in the exploitation and control of
resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to joint reports from
the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz", "Africa-Report" and
American "Bloomberg".
اضافة اعلان
The Gertler family: Influence and
impact
Dan
Gertler is the grandson of Moshe Schnitzer, a prominent figure who co-founded the
Israel Diamond Exchange in 1947 and received the Israel Prize in 2004, Al-Ghad
reported.
Gertler
grew up in a family with a strong tradition in diamond polishing and marketing,
gaining experience in this field from his father and grandfather.
Starting
from a family legacy rooted in diamond exploitation on the African continent
during the colonial era, Gertler is following in the footsteps of his
ancestors.
After
his mandatory three-year service in the Israeli army, Gertler established his
diamond trading shop. At the age of 23, he headed to the Democratic Republic of
Congo, which was then experiencing a cycle of unrest and bloody conflicts.
During
that turbulent period, rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila was in dire need of
money and weapons to launch his attack on the capital, Kinshasa. Gertler
cleverly provided $20 million in support for the rebellion.
As
Kabila rose to power, Gertler leveraged his close relationship with him to
consolidate his influence, gaining access to mineral extraction rights at
preferential prices, far from global market standards. In return, Gertler
pledged to ensure international support for the Kabila regime from Western
countries.
Following
the assassination of Laurent Kabila in January 2001, his son Joseph Kabila
assumed power. Gertler exploited this shift to his advantage, taking advantage
of the young president's lack of experience in the political field, and worked
to consolidate his interests.
Amid
doubts and controversy surrounding Laurent's murder and his son Joseph's
accession to power, the latter delegated Gertler to negotiate with the US to
gain its support and that of the international community against his opponents.
Mining sector
The
mining sector is an essential pillar of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's
economy, as it contributed about 55 percent of total revenues in 2017 and
represented 99 percent of total national exports in 2023.
During
the long period of Joseph Kabila's rule, Gertler won large and suspicious
contracts to export diamonds, gold, oil, cobalt, and other precious metals.
As
a result, Gertler established himself as a prominent businessman and
billionaire in the global mining arena, establishing the Dan Gertler
International Group (DGI).
He
was famous not only in the diamond and copper sectors but also expanded his
investments to cover other areas such as iron ore, gold, cobalt, and oil, in
addition to the agricultural and banking sectors.
Thus,
Gertler created his fortune, which Forbes estimates at approximately $2 billion
in 2023, by benefiting from his relationships with parties sometimes involved
in war crimes.
The intersection of Gertler and
Israeli politics
In
June 2022, journalist Martin Plaut, who specializes in the affairs of the Horn
of Africa and South Africa, conducted a careful investigation that revealed
influential figures working within the Israeli government under the leadership
of Benjamin Netanyahu and provided assistance to Gertler. Among these, is the
name of Yossi Cohen, who previously held the position of Mossad director.
Cohen
made three visits to the DR of Congo in 2019, to intercede on behalf of Gertler
with President Joseph Kabila and ensure the continuation of his privileges with
his successor, President Felix Tshisekedi.
According
to Plaut, those close to Gertler and Cohen confirm that all their moves were in
the interest of the Israeli state.
But
Cohen's three visits to one of the most corrupt countries on the African
continent have raised many questions about the extent of the Israeli
government's involvement with Gertler in his suspicious activities, especially
in the areas of controlling precious metals.
The
mystery unfolds when looking at the distinguished position that Israel occupies
in the global industrial space, and with the realization of the pivotal
importance of minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and coltan in shaping the
features of technical superiority, there was an urgent need for the Israeli
government to ensure the continuity and security of Dan Gertler’s investments
in the DR of Congo.
These
minerals form the backbone of multiple vital industries, such as those related
to electric car batteries, connectors, and advanced electronic chip technology,
as well as in the manufacture of smartphones and computers, not to mention
their essential role in the Israeli military sector.
Strategic
arena
In
2018, according to World Integrated Trade Solution data, Israel imported
various cobalt products from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including
cobalt, scrap, and powder.
The
DR of Congo is considered the main supplier of these minerals, as it
contributes about 70 percent of the global production of cobalt and 80 percent
of coltan, making it an arena of significant strategic importance.
In
addition to seeking to exploit these resources in its industrial sectors,
Israel is keen to strengthen its economic and political presence in this vital
part of the African continent.
In
a related context, Israel goes beyond merely engaging in traditional investment
activities alongside its businessmen, as it demonstrates its military
involvement in protecting these interests in Congo by providing support to the
armed factions that ensure the preservation of their interests.
In
October 2023, African press reports indicated that Israel had redeployed its
soldiers secretly working in the Congo to participate in ground military
operations in Gaza, highlighting the deep overlap between Israel’s economic,
military, and intelligence goals on the African continent.
Gertler
and corruption investigations
Over
the years, Gertler's name has been linked to repeated corruption allegations.
In May 2013, a report issued by Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the
United Nations, revealed the huge losses incurred by the Democratic Congo as a
result of its dealings with Gertler’s foreign companies, which shed light for
the first time on the extent of these huge losses.
The
report explained that Gertler's deals for 5 important concessions in the field
of copper and cobalt led to a loss estimated at approximately $1.36 billion to
the public treasury.
In
2017, the US Treasury Department decided to apply sanctions against Gertler
based on the Magnitsky Act, which gives it the authority to freeze the assets
of individuals involved in human rights violations or corruption activities.
The
ministry stated that Gertler was able to amass enormous wealth through
ambiguous contracts in the mining and oil sectors, worth hundreds of millions
of dollars in Congo, taking advantage of his strong relationship with
then-Congolese President Joseph Kabila.
The
following year, the scope of the sanctions imposed on him expanded after he
obtained mining licenses at low prices from the Congolese government and
government companies, and then resold them to international partners at huge
profits.
The
lawsuit also included accusations of Gertler and his companies of financing
rebel militias and seizing payments that were supposed to belong to the state
and its official institutions.
Secret
license
In
early 2021, and during the last days of Donald Trump's administration, Gertler
obtained a secret license extending for one year that exempted him from
sanctions, after intense efforts by the Jewish lobby in the US.
However,
this decision faced strong objections from anti-corruption activists and
members of the US Congress, which led to its cancellation by the administration
of President Joe Biden in March 2021.
Given
the key position Gertler holds in strengthening Israeli influence on the
African continent, Especially in the area of control of precious and
strategic metals, he had to receive support from another influential Israeli
figure, Ron Dermer, the former ambassador of Israel to the US.
Dermer
emphasized the importance of “regional relations relevant to Israeli interests”
as the main reason behind his attempts to remove Gertler from the US sanctions
list.
Dermer
and Cohen are considered among Netanyahu's closest and most trusted aides,
carrying out secret missions at the behest of his government, and have been
described by Netanyahu on several occasions as potential successors to him.
Independent
of the corruption charges, and to gain the approval of President Tshisekedi's
government, in November 2020, Gertler launched a financial initiative called
"Yabisu", and claimed that he would share part of his proceeds from
the "Metalcol" cobalt project with the Congolese people.
This
scheme was harshly criticized for offering to give away what should have been
state assets. However, Gertler continued to strongly reject the accusations
against him, denying that he was carrying out illegal activities, and insisting
on his contribution to creating a major investment shift in the DR of the
Congo.
However,
financial investigations announced in 2021 by the anti-corruption “Congo is Not
for Sale” coalition refutes his claims, as the investigations revealed that the
Democratic Republic of the Congo incurred losses of more than 3.71 billion US
dollars as a result of suspicious mining and oil deals with Dan Gertler,
benefiting from his strong relationship with Joseph. Kabila, who ruled Congo
from 2001 to 2019, and his work as an intermediary in the country's most
prominent mining deals.
A major dilemma
Recently,
Gertler has become a major dilemma for the Congolese government, as it
negatively affects the trade in diamonds used in local conflicts. The
government's attempts to free the diamond trade from his control face threats
of prosecution from his company, as it has the exclusive exploitation contract
for those mines.
This
is without forgetting that on February 9, 2024, Haaretz newspaper published a
report stating that Dan Gertler was able to evade the US sanctions imposed on
him, which represented the last hope of curbing his exploitation of the Congo.
The
report reveals how he concealed a copper and cobalt mine valued at
approximately $1.5 billion, bypassing the restrictions imposed on him.
This
revelation prompted a group of observers to comment on the fraud news by saying
that the United States is not serious in its war against corruption, especially
about the business of the Israeli businessman.
According
to these observers, the uproar that accompanied Gertler’s trial is nothing more
than an American tactic aimed at containing emotions against Gertler’s
companies on the one hand, and overlooking the Israeli exploitation of wealth
in Africa on the other hand, given that Israeli influence in Africa is
considered an extension of American influence.
This
point of view seems very logical, as the activities of the businessman who
serves Israel’s interests and influence in Africa are consistent with American
influence from the perspective of international and geopolitical relations.
The sub-power of the empire:
This
interconnection between the interests of America and Israel was discussed by
Clinton Fernandez, professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia,
in his book “The Sub-Power of the Empire.”
Fernandez,
who previously held the rank of an Australian intelligence officer, says that
countries such as Australia, Israel, and the United Kingdom are not client or
client states as much as they are agents of the American empire, helping to
maintain its influence in their regions.
Fernandez
points out that the “geopolitics” of America and its agents is characterized by
extreme aggressiveness, driven mainly by the financial class and wealthy elites
who have a great influence on the state, which is evident in many historical
examples. For example, the colonization and plunder of India began with the
East India Company before the British state intervened to organize the
colonization process. In the case of the war in Iraq, the motivation behind the
war served the interests of American oil companies more than American national
security.
Fernandez
considers that the primary goal of the American international system is to
create a global system that allows penetration and control by the national
financial classes, which makes hegemony a primary goal that comes at the
expense of security.
This
explains why the exploitation of peoples affected by plunder in the DR of the
Congo and elsewhere is overlooked by countries such as Israel and its
businessmen, as this serves American imperial hegemony. This is therefore
consistent with liberal thinking about amassing wealth, which explains why
issues like the sanctions imposed on Gertler may be just a red herring.
In
conclusion, there is a strong belief prevailing in academic circles that Dan
Gertler represents one of the prominent examples of how Israel exploits
businessmen as tools to enhance its geopolitical influence on the African
continent, devoting a policy of penetration and penetration into it.
It
is striking that there is no tangible manifestation indicating the existence of
a real intention or serious intention to curb Gertler or put an end to his
actions, which are being pursued by corruption charges, whether at the local
level in the DR of Congo or the regional and international levels. Which
reflects the negative impact and repercussions of this type of policy on
economic stability in the African continent.
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