Israeli records fall in 2005 as net polished exports rise.

The leaders of the Israeli diamond industry were in a buoyant mood in January as they announced net polished exports and other statistics for 2005. During the year that had just ended, Israeli diamantaires exported a record $6.71 billion of polished diamonds, a rise of 5.8 percent on the $6.34 billion figure posted in 2004.

Proof of the importance of the diamond industry to the Israeli economy can be seen in the fact that the polished exports comprise around a fifth of the country's total industrial exports of $32.41 billion. As for imports of polished diamonds in 2005,