Israel’s Mercenaries in Georgia

IDF vets who trained Georgia troops say war with Russia is no surprise

(Haaretz) – L. was hired by Global CST, owned by Maj. Gen. Israel Ziv, and Defense Shield, owned by Brig. Gen. Gal 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.

“There was an atmosphere of war about to break out. We received basic background about tensions between Georgia and Russia, but most of what I learned came from talking to the soldiers. From my point of view, the battles of the past few days were to be expected.”

The Israelis, who were stationed at bases throughout the country, were to carry out battalion-level infantry and reconnaissance training. “Israel Ziv and Gal Hirsch would come from time to time and watch us in action, but we managed day-to-day operations ourselves,” L. said.

The Israeli trainers are trying to glean from reports on the movements of the Georgian army whether their trainees have internalized Israeli military technique and if the special reconnaissance forces have chalked up any successes after the difficult training they underwent last winter.

L., who trained a Georgian reconnaissance unit, says the troops were high quality. “It’s not the standard we know in Israel, but when we left them they were at a good level. They took the training very seriously. There is a wider age range than in Israel, from 18 to 35, but they function very well. Over the past few days I’ve been following the news and I think they grasped a little of how to use strategy, like we taught them. It looks like we did a good job.” L. refuses to discuss the weapons they trained the Georgians with, but he says the program was approved by Israel’s Defense Ministry and included no classified information. “We taught them counterterror and house-to-house fighting, but that was very basic.”

The trainers left Georgia in April. “I don’t think the Georgians would start fighting as long as the Israeli forces where there,” L. said. “Once, when tension was high after Russia shot down a drone, we were evacuated to Tbilisi.”

L. is furious over the Foreign Ministry directive to freeze Israeli weapons sales to Georgia. “When we found ourselves in a similar situation, we expected the world to act differently,” he said.

Israel and the US behind the Georgian aggression?

Israeli security subcontractors left Georgia at the end of July

Defensive Shield, owned by Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, said all its employees, including its subcontractors, are no longer in Georgia. It said it 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 Maj. Gen. (res.) Israel Ziv, said it finished its work in Georgia at the end of July.

The officer also stressed the difference in military might: “Georgia is a small country, with barely 4.5 million people,” he said. “They have a small army – to be honest, not much different from that of a Third World country.”

The Georgians began reorganizing their army in 2002, with American assistance. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the Georgian army has primarily been comprised of remnants of Red Army units.

Analysis: Someone timed Russia-Georgia crisis to coincide with Olympics

Israeli Generals and Shin Bet central in Georgian ‘Defense’ Build-up  

(Haaretz) – Only in recent years have Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his Defense Minister David Kezerashvili, who has strong ties in Israel, decided to step up defense procurement – in part because of the growing tensions over the breakaway regions and due to friction with Russia, which backs the separatists.

They turned to Israel and have received nearly $500 million in equipment since 2000. This included unmanned aerial vehicles, other electronic systems, intelligence equipment, ammunition, command and control equipment and training.

A figure central to the defense consulting activities in Georgia was Brigadier General (res.) Gal Hirsch, a former commander in the Second Lebanon War who resigned following the release of the interim Winograd Committee report. Also involved was Maj. Gen. Yoram Yair and other officers from the Shin Bet security service, the police’s counter-terrorist unit, and representatives of the Elbit and Rafael military industry firms.  

Yoram Yair, Commander Paratroop Brigade and Massacre in 1982