Both the President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, Ernie Blom; and Shmuel Schnitzer President along with the Board of the Israel Diamond Exchange released statements expressing  concern following Gemological Institute of America’s (GIA) trade alert which said that around 500 colourless to near-colourless diamonds were submitted, primarily to its grading laboratory in Ramat Gan, Israel, which were potentially subjected to an undisclosed temporary treatment to improve their colour grade - up to three times higher.

Blom strongly reiterated the WFDB’s policy of “Zero Tolerance for Undisclosed Diamond Treatments”.

“I am extremely concerned by this development," Blom said. "This is clearly unlawful behaviour. We will have no tolerance whatsoever for this type of alleged illegal activity.”

He added: "It is crucial that this kind of unlawful action is stamped out. We are pleased that the GIA publicised this development so that diamantaires can be on their guard and that the Israel Diamond Exchange is moving firmly in order to deal with this issue with the utmost seriousness. Our industry must come together to counter such activity, both for the good of our members and for the end-consumer who is always uppermost in our minds.”

The IDE said it had called for an “extraordinary meeting of its board of directors, with the participation of the presidium of the Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association (IsDMA); the IDE's Head of Security, Israel Vantovsky; Police Commissioner (Ret.) Yossi Sedbon; and the IDE's Legal Counsel,  Adv. Shmuel Ini”, which was held on the morning of May 13th 2015.

 Widespread “indignation and resentment” was expressed at the meeting where it was resolved “to identify the suspects who distributed close to 500 high-quality, polished diamonds, suspected to be treated, in the Israeli diamond trade, without disclosure, and with GIA diamond grading reports that misrepresented their true identity”.

“The meeting decided to act immediately and, in coordination with the relevant parties in the bourse and the appropriate state authorities, to take the needed measures,” the statement concluded. “To expedite the process, the board decided to delegate the handling of the case to a number of board members, together with the IDE's advisors and counsel.