Currently Arcady Gaydamak does not own diamond fields or rough-cutting operations, nor is he involved in diamonds trading operations. Bur he has high-level connections in Angola, Israel, Canada and Russia which allow him to act as intermediary in informal negotiations with major impact on positions held by world diamond market positions major players.
Born in 1952 in Moscow (according to other data – in Berdichev, Ukraine). In 1972 left for Israel. In six months he surfaced in France (according to other data in 1972 – 1973 he served in the Israeli Navy). In 1976 Mr. Gaydamak founded in France a translation bureau that provided services primarily to the Soviet organizations foreign offices. In 1982 the bureau affiliate was established in Canada.
In 1992 Mr. Gaydamak was granted Angolan citizenship. Further on he was and remains instrumental in activities to divide the sphere of influence between France, Russia and Israel, as well as Total, De Beers, Rosneft, ALROSA, Rosvooruzhenie, Israel Military Industres, Leviev Group and a number of other corporations in Angola.
According to French law enforcing agencies, Mr. Gaydamak together with shadowy arms dealer Pierre Falcone, French presidential adviser on Africa Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, French presidential chief of staff Jacques Attali, French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua and other senior officials (a total of 42 individuals) were involved in illegal large-scale shipments of arms to Angola. Allegedly, the CIS and former Warsaw Pact countries arsenals were used. Arms shipment channels were provided by former and acting special services agents from those countries. In 1993 – 1997 arms for a total of USD $800 million were allegedly supplied to Angola circumventing the UN arms embargo.
Practically simultaneously Mr. Gaydamak took an active part in settling Angolan debt to the Russian Federation (as legal successor to the USSR). Deals under this operation became a focus of vehement criticism from French and Swiss law enforcement agencies which accused Mr. Gaydamak of tax evasion.
In 1996 – 1998 together with former Mossad director Dany Yatom and head of Tsomet  directorate (undercover operations) Avi Dagan, Mr. Gaydamak contributed to Leviev Group penetration in Angola. In 2000 году Mr. Gaydamak acquired 15% shares of the Africa-Israel holding (in 2002 he sold this portfolio basically with no profit).
Of note is the fact that dubious arms sales to Angola, the entry of Russian diamond mining ALROSA and triumph of the Leviev Group, which gained 18% of Catoca as well as monopoly control to control diamond exports from Angola through Ascorp, proceeded against the backdrop of growing confrontation between the Government of Angola and De Beers Corporation. In 2001 De Beers was forced to fold up its business in Angola totally.
In 2003 – 2006 Mr. Gaydamak fundamentally changed his position with regard to the Leviev Group and used his influence with Angola Government to strip the Lev Leviev companies of monopoly rights to export Angolan diamonds and transfer some of those rights to companies under the Russian and DGI Group control. This move by Mr. Gaydamak coincided with changes in ALROSA management and can not be explained by business interests alone (as well as the no profit sale of Africa-Israel portfolio in 2002). Those developments led several analysts to a suspicion that Mr. Gaydamak acted under control of Russian special services from the beginning of his business career. In 2006 influential Israeli The Haaretz daily published a comment by Й.Сарида political observer on Mr. Gaydamak biography. Although by that time negative press reports on Mr. Gaydamak were numbered in hundreds it was this publication that prompted Mr. Gaydamak to sue Haaretz for 45 million shekels. Haaretz lawyers in return circulated a statement directly linking Mr. Gaydamak with Soviet and Russian special services.
This conflict coincided with an outburst of Mr. Gaydamak political and media projects in Israel and Russia. Mr. Gaydamak established his own political party «Tsedek Hvraty» (Social Justice) and announced his intention to stand up for election as mayor of Jerusalem, acquired a number of media assets and sport clubs, as well as intensified his charity activities. This campaign to gain popularity evolved against a backdrop of growing pressure from French justice: in March of 2007 prosecutor's office in Paris filed official charges against Mr. Gaydamak. The document numbers about 500 pages and details information on Mr. Gaydamak  contacts with special services, including those from Russia. Officially those developments served as a chilling factor in Mr. Gaydamak relations with the Government of Angola, although a number of sources believe Mr. Gaydamak's conflict with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is of rather of a deception nature since Mr. Gaydamak retains substantial influence with the Government of Angola and his services would be in demand by major mining companies willing to entrench in Angola.
It appears evident that Mr. Gaydamak still depends if not on people and agencies that can present information on his alleged links to secret services (legally unlikely) then at lest on those able to intensify the works of the French judiciary (although combinations and coincidence of interests in this case can never be excluded). This should be of note when appraising Mr. Gadamak's political projects in Israel.

 (This story is based on Russian and foreign media and Internet reports)