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. Israeli soldiers were hired by Global CST, owned by Maj. Gen. Israel Ziv, and Defense Shield, owned by former Galilee Div. commander Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch. Both companies said they finished their work in Georgia long before hostilities broke out.08/11/08