Realising Russia and Georgia were on a collision course, defense officials evaluated the situation several months ago and made a decision to drastically minimize sales of weapons to Georgia so as not to harm relations with both countries, Israeli officials said Sunday.
Israeli sales with Georgia in the past included night-vision equipment, rifles and unmanned drones for gathering intelligence. However defense officials said Israel did not agree, however, to upgrade the drones to those that possess high intelligence-gathering capabilities. The drones were sold to Georgia by Elbit, and the deal was closed by the former minister Ronnie Milo, who represented the defense electronics company in Georgia, the official said. Milo was not available for comment on Sunday.
Officials said no tanks, planes, or missiles have ever been supplied to Georgia by Israel, he added, emphasizing that the majority of Georgia's weapons had been supplied by other states. China supplies used Kalashnikovs to the Georgian military, while Slovenia has sold Georgia armored personnel carriers, the official said.
Officials confirmed that former Galilee Div. commander Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch had received approval from the Defense Ministry to train elite anti-terrorist units in the Georgian army, after the decision to minimize arms sales to the country had been taken. Officials in the know said that Hirsch trained a few units there, but not very many. "We had no objection to the Georgians acquiring anti-terrorism units - terrorism is a worldwide problem," the source said. Israeli officials however described reports that Israel was heavily involved in training Georgian military forces as grossly exaggerated, noting that 95% of Israelis in Georgia are there for civilian projects, and only 5% of them are there because of military affairs.
Israel had some of the most advanced laws on arms sales in the world. "Only the US is more advanced, because its laws permit the arrest of any arms merchants from any country. We can only deal with Israeli arms merchants," the source added. "Our sales to Africa are very low. Sales to eastern Europe are low. Most of our sales are to the US, Europe, and some states in the far east."
Former Israeli ambassador to Georgia Shabtai Zur told reporters on Sunday that since Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili took office the country has seen advancements in various fields, specifically the enlistment of women to the army and the recruitment of reservists. "In my opinion these developments are due in part to advice Georgia received from Israeli companies that operate there," Zur said.
IDF reservists who helped to train Georgian troops said Sunday that they had been unable to contact soldiers who they trained up until a few months ago, but declared that the recent hostilities came as no surprise. Speaking to reporters, the reservists said the bases used to train the troops had been bombed by Russia even though they weren't located in the area where the battles are taking place. One reservists identified as L told Haaretz that he was hired by Global CST, owned by Maj. Gen. Israel Ziv, and Defense Shield, owned by Hirsch, about a year ago, right after he left the army. He had served as a combat officer in an elite unit, and he got the adventurous offer through his commanding officers. "It looked interesting. Relative to Israel, the money was excellent, too," he said.
On Sunday, Hirsch, said all its employees, including its subcontractors, are no longer in Georgia, noting that the company had completed the work it had been contracted to do, and that all its contracts with Georgia had been approved by Israel's Defense Ministry. Security systems services company Global CST, managed by Ziv, said it finished its work in Georgia at the end of July.
Ziv along with other former IDF generals and commanders is also involved in training Colombian security forces including those whoset Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages free in July this year. Following her release Betancourt compared the Colombian military operation to that of the Israeli army.08/11/08
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