Udi Sheintal | IDC Officer

Udi Sheintal was born in Israel in 1956. After his discharge from the army in 1974 (with the rank of lieutenant and rising to the rank of major in the reserves) he studied political science and labor studies at Tel Aviv University.

In 1981 he went to work for the Ministry of Industry and Trade and was trained as a commercial attaché. At the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Sheintal served as deputy manager of the North America section, assistant director-general, Trade Commissioner for Canada, advisor to the director-general, senior deputy director-general for administration, Trade Commissioner for the South-East of the USA based in Atlanta, Georgia, and director of a course for commercial accountants.

In June 1998 he began serving as Diamond Controller and director of the Diamonds, Precious Stones and Jewelry Administration. During his period of service he was the first Diamond Controller to be involved in the creation and implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which went into effect in January 2003. He also took steps to simplify the import/export process at the customs station in the Office of the Diamond Controller, such as registration for services and queuing up for turns through the Israel Diamond Portal.

In 2004, after serving as Diamond Controller, Sheintal served as Vice Director-General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, and from 2007 to 2012 served as managing director of the Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association. In this post, Udi Sheintal also served as chairman of the Israel Economic Representative Club, and began his term as Secretary of the World Diamond Council and as the President of the Diamond Commission of CIBJO.

After serving as acting general manager of the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) between 2012 and 2013, he is now retained by IDI as a senior advisor. He also continues to fulfill his role as Secretary of the World Diamond Council; as President of the Diamond Commission of CIBJO, the World Jewelry Confederation; and as an officer in the International Diamond Council. Having gone to law school from 2009, since 2015, after passing the Israeli Bar exams, Sheintal is a licensed attorney.