With the return to the agenda of international sanctions against the Israeli Dan Gertler, for his long-standing opaque agreements with Joseph Kabila, justice is now closely following Beny Steinmetz, his brother Daniel and several men of Israeli affairs.
Dan Gertler, Beny Steinmetz… The names of Israeli billionaires who have seen their fortunes increase tenfold in Africa, often illicitly, are beginning to be famous. They represent the economic counterpart of the occult influence exerted by their country in Africa. An influence which gradually crumbles with sanctions and accusations for Gertler, and imprisonment for Steinmetz.
It took more than twenty years, however, for the African justice to move against the diamond dealers and industry magnates. For several reasons: these men were discreet and protected by an Israel which has always had an offensive policy in Africa, especially in terms of security. The best friend of the United States, and whose intelligence service, the Mossad, is well established in Benin, Togo, Morocco, South Africa, Guinea, Sudan, Ethiopia and other countries, does not hesitate to use intimidating methods to promote its mutual interests with its nationals, who plunder Africa with total impunity.
From diamond to black gold
Dan Gertler's story is a confusing tale. Since 1997, the businessman has established a mining empire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). From diamonds to copper, including cobalt and petroleum, Gertler has long taken advantage of his proximity to ex-president Joseph Kabila to line his pockets. He was also the architect of the relationship between the Bush administration and the DRC.
The start of the problems for Gertler, and many other Israeli businessmen and African politicians supporting them, was marked by the SwissLeaks affair, involving British bank HSBC in 2008, which monopolized investigative journalists around the world. This affair is a turning point, because it has lifted the veil on the finances of Gertler, the Steinmetz brothers and the unofficial intelligence network of the Franco-Israeli Didier Sabag.
Gradually, the continental, even global, extent of Gertler's network became apparent. In 2017, the US Treasury laid the foundation stone, subjecting Dan Gertler to financial sanctions through Magnitsky Law. With the direct intervention of Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Alan Dershowitz, these sanctions were bypassed, until March 8, 2021, when they were reinstated.
What is certain is that despite the current freedom Gertler enjoys, the noose begins to tighten around his empire. However, it remains more dangerous even than the current president of the DRC Félix Tshisekedi, who would need courage to free his country from the grip of Gertler. We must not forget the conciliatory words of the New York Times towards this Israeli with a thousand secrets, who "played an important role in helping the interests of the national security of the United States".
To the American throne
It is undoubtedly because these Israelis serve the interests of the United States that they have evaded justice for so long.. Besides their financial representatives, Gertler, the Steinmetzes and others all have the same legal representatives and the same communications agency. Funny coincidence.
US lawyer Alan Dershowitz represents this network, and other powerful global players, whose only commonality is, besides their colossal fortunes and business success, unwavering support for Israel. The lawyer represented Trump and offered his support to Clinton, all the same.
In terms of communication, the Anglo-Irish agency Powerscourt and its crisis management unit is decidedly the favorite of this network. The agency has recruited no less than thirteen new directors for its various services since December 2020. The most recent, Peter Barrett (of the family of Richard Barrett) and Sarah MacLeod are pure products of American and British underground intelligence, the CIA and MI6. In terms of Africa, the creator of Powerscourt, Rory Godson, personally represents the Ivorian Tidjane Thiam and, more recently, Isabel dos Santos.
Many points of convergence between Israeli tycoons, African politics and the most obscure actors of world powers, in all sectors. But as the Americans say, you always have to follow the money. Like Dan Gertler, other Israelis active in Africa have been at the heart of several controversies, namely Beny Steinmetz, his brother Daniel, and Didier Sabag.
In the eye of the storm
Outsmarted by Brazilian justice, Beny Steinmetz's latest attempt to extricate himself from the cracks of the law, by offering his partner Vale, failed. The Franco-Israeli billionaire diamond dealer was at the head of an estimated fortune of 8,5 billion dollars, which made him the richest man in Israel.
Since 1978, its BSGR mining nebula has already been prospecting in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Sierra Leone and other African countries. Steinmetz's misstep is more recent: in 2008, thanks to his contact in the Republic of Guinea, then President Lansana Conté, he obtained two blocks from the largest unexploited iron deposit in the world, for the smallest amount of money. sum of $ 163 million. He then sold half of the operating contract to Vale for $ 2,5 billion.
This enormous gain earned him first the wrath of Conakry, then Switzerland. He was arrested in 2017 on charges of fraud, money laundering and numerous other charges. Thanks to the intervention of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2019, the charges were dropped in Guinea. The Geneva public prosecutor, however, appealed to the criminal court later that year.
There followed a long legal drama that pitted the Steinmetz conglomerate against George Soros, at least from a procedural point of view. The Israeli tycoon was sentenced in early January 2021 by the Geneva court to five years in prison for corruption charges between 2006 and 2012. He has since become persona non grata in Africa, and his brother Daniel, to whom he had sold a much of his empire, is currently being scrutinized for his role in family affairs, as well as his involvement in the HSBC affair.
Another figure who is arousing the interest of international justice for his malevolent role in Africa is the manager of the company Sapna Limited, the Franco-Israeli of Moroccan origin Didier Sabag. With his direct involvement in several more or less legal cases, including that of NSO's Pegasus spyware, he sees NGOs and civil society in particular taking an interest in his business.
Like Gérard Araud, Didier Sabag is one of those information intermediaries who are considered untouchable, but with the African movement towards a break with the shenanigans of Israel on the continent, these people could very quickly find themselves in the eye of the storm.