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Friday August 15, 2008

Conflict spotlights Israeli arms deals with Georgia

by roy eitan
jta

As Russian and Georgian forces battled over South Ossetia, Israel found itself on the defensive.

A favored arms supplier for Georgia, the Jewish state has been at pains to play down its ties with the former Soviet republic rather than risk a crisis with Russia.

It is more than just sound diplomacy.

With Russia expected to supply Iran with anti-aircraft missiles that could fend off a preemptive strike on nuclear sites, Israel has a vested interest in not appearing to be in Georgia’s corner and losing whatever lobbying power it has in Moscow.

With troops, tanks and warplanes clashing in the Caucasus in the worst armed face-off Europe has seen in decades, the Russian media queried where their Georgian foes had acquired weapons and tactical wherewithal.

Israel’s name came up.

The link is well known. Aside from Israel’s prowess in military matters, it enjoys a personal rapport with a number of senior colleagues to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has been trying to align his country with the West.

Saakashvili’s defense minister, Davit Kezerashvili, is a Jew who spent several years living in Israel. So is another Cabinet minister, Temur Yakobashvili.

According to Jerusalem sources, the Georgian government, enriched by Caspian oil, has long sent emissaries on “shopping trips” to the arms firms in Israel. In parallel, Georgia has employed retired Israeli generals such as Israel Ziv and Gal Hirsch as consultants.

“The Israelis should be proud of the fact that Georgian soldiers received Israeli education and training and are fighting like I don’t know what,” Yakobashvili told Israel’s Channel 10 television.

The full extent of Israel’s defense exports to Georgia is a secret, but Jerusalem sources were keen to dispel the sense of a strategic alliance against Moscow.

“We have good relations with both countries and are loath to upset either,” one source said.

The sources insist that when Georgia-Russia tensions began spiraling several months ago, Israel reduced its arms sales.

That move coincided with the Russian air force’s shooting down of a Georgia spy drone that, it emerged, had been manufactured by the Israeli firm Elbit.

Whereas Georgia previously was allowed to buy offensive weapons, the deals were limited to “purely defensive” systems, the sources said.

Israel’s annual military dealings with Georgia are worth approximately $200 million a year, a defense source said, adding the figure is dwarfed by Georgian purchases from other arms suppliers such as the United States.

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