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Last update - 20:05 11/08/2008
IDF vets who trained Georgia troops say war with Russia is no surprise
By Jonathan Lis and Moti Katz
Tags: Russia, Israel, IDF, Georgia

For the past few days, since fighting broke out in the Caucasus, 24-year-old L. from central Israel has been trying to phone the group of Georgian combat soldiers he had been training in Georgia up to a few months ago.

L. and a group of young Israel Defense Forces reservists have been watching reports of the fighting in Georgia worriedly, concerned over the fate of the soldiers they had trained for four months.

"We have their phone numbers, but we haven't been able to reach them. These are people we know and we are all hoping for their success," L. said.
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Meanwhile, 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.

"The military bases where we trained the soldiers are practically gone. The Russians have been bombing them over the past few days," L. said. He quickly added that "the bases where we trained the forces were not in the areas of conflict, but it's not a huge country, and the Russians are bombing bases in central Georgia and in the area of the capital, Tbilisi."

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.

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. says they got to know the Georgians off-base as well. "We were at some of the soldiers' homes for dinner. They're very emotional and warm and tried to compare the situation in Israel to their situation. They were very excited that we had come to help them."

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.


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      1.   Israel`s ally Georgia lost the war. Iran`s ally Russia won 04:17  |  Aounist 11/08/08
      2.   israeli trained? watch them lose 04:22  |  VIPER 11/08/08
      3.   WAY TO GO IDF,HELP TRAIN OTHERS;PASS ON TALENTS IN HOW TO PROTECT 04:33  |  glenna 11/08/08
      4.   War in Georgia 05:14  |  Horst Wessel 11/08/08
      5.   Why give to the forces of inniquity? 05:22  |  Bartley Kulp 11/08/08
      6.   Horsetrading 05:30  |  Hope and Fear 11/08/08
      7.   georgia in trouble 05:41  |  josh 11/08/08
      8.   Russian aggression 05:45  |  Shtarka 11/08/08
      9.   Russian Army killing innocent and steal all Possessions 05:57  |  Feorge 11/08/08
      10.   Israel is involved in everything ! 06:28  |  igcola 11/08/08
      11.   #10 HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD 06:52  |  TRUTH FOR ONCE 11/08/08
      12.   # 9 that is propably why you should not anger the russian bear 07:13  |  Kris Lazar 11/08/08
      13.   The differemce between Russia and Israel 07:36  |  Edifice 11/08/08
      14.   #10, FEORGE, wonder where they learned that from? 08:47  |  VIPER 11/08/08
      15.   Aounist,, the Hizb-Zabra Puppet.. 08:56  |  The Doctor 11/08/08
      16.   Trained by the IDF? No wonder they`re losing so badly 09:07  |  peacelover 11/08/08
      17.   Crazy to go to war against Russia 09:18  |  semsem 11/08/08
      18.   Russia wants to become superpower again 09:53  |  Vitaly 11/08/08
      19.   Stop it Haaretz 10:08  |  Bigfacedog 11/08/08
      20.   Israelis can have enough of war and conflict 10:11  |  Lobo08 11/08/08
      21.   They`re fighting RUSSIA, you idiots 10:22  |  David 11/08/08
      22.   #19, BIGFACEDOG, are you an idiot? 10:49  |  VIPER 11/08/08
      23.   DISGUSTING HAARETZ "JOURNALISM" 10:54  |  Brant 11/08/08
      24.   Russia- Lean and Mean 11:00  |  Shtarka 11/08/08
      25.   #18 Vitaly, the cold war never ended 11:38  |  Edith 11/08/08
      26.   IDF is a Great Trainer 12:40  |  Walid 11/08/08
      27.   Who has the best army in the world? 12:54  |  redmike 11/08/08
      28.   Orthodox Love of Jews 13:10  |  Ben 11/08/08
      29.   IDF FAILED IN S.LEBANON. TAUGHT GEORGIA HOW TO FAIL. 13:13  |  Mudhek 11/08/08
      30.   To Edith 13:22  |  Uri 11/08/08
      31.   Georgia and Israel were, and are, STUPID! Fighting Russia??? 13:36  |  S 11/08/08
      32.   Sorry Uri, I don`t agree 13:47  |  Edith 11/08/08
      33.   Inadequate to say 13:50  |  Jesse James 11/08/08
      34.   IGCOLA because there are Islamist Jihadists bombing worldwide 13:56  |  PETER SM 11/08/08
      35.   VIPER of course you won.Tell Nasrallah so he can crawl out of his 14:05  |  PETER SM 11/08/08
      36.   OIL...... 14:13  |  William 11/08/08
      37.   GEORGIA IS THE OCCUPIER OF IRAQ 14:14  |  indrajaya 11/08/08
      38.   To #16: Trained by the IDF? No wonder they`re losing so badly 14:29  |  Aounist 11/08/08
      39.   To Edith 14:36  |  Vitaly 11/08/08
      40.   PEACELOVER Not a nice thing about all the Arab armies combined 15:05  |  PETER SM 11/08/08
      41.   PEACELOVER Not a nice thing about all the Arab armies combined 15:05  |  PETER SM 11/08/08
      42.   #39 Vitaly, you need the whole picture 15:06  |  Edith 11/08/08
      43.   To Vitaly and Edith 15:07  |  Uri 11/08/08
      44.   Mudheck 29, History dictates that those who fight for freedom win 16:13  |  Simon 11/08/08
      45.   BREAKING NEWS: SAAKASHVILI IS TALKING 16:16  |  indrajaya 11/08/08
      46.   #9 it`s always the same 16:16  |  Edithann, USA 11/08/08
      47.   russian imperialism 16:50  |  willem 11/08/08
      48.   Bring Iran into the western orbit 17:41  |  John Isenhower 11/08/08
      49.   # 48, JOHN ISENHOWER 18:02  |  indrajaya 11/08/08
      50.   Give them Saakashvili`s head on a plate 19:02  |  Marteen 11/08/08
      51.   #47,willem, notice the similarities with 1938 19:06  |  Voice of Reason 11/08/08
      52.   edith # 42 your the one that can`t see the forest because of the 19:08  |  terrornator 11/08/08
      53.   Hello indrajaya: About U.S. "news" 19:12  |  Gray 11/08/08
      54.   gray,,,virginia must be so proud to have such a muslim supporter 19:39  |  terrornator 11/08/08
      55.   # 51, agree 19:46  |  willem 11/08/08
      56.   I hope... 20:23  |  TOBIAS RÜGER 11/08/08
      57.   54 Terrormator, Gray is a Muslim propagandist disguised as a vet. 20:33  |  The Equalizer 11/08/08
      58.   "terronator" Nothing can hide.. 20:37  |  Gray 11/08/08
      59.   "Thinking About you" 20:57  |  Gray 11/08/08
      60.   #52 Terrornator, my friends are ... 20:57  |  Edith 11/08/08
      61.   #43 Uri there is a difference between ... 21:11  |  Edith 11/08/08
      62.   Equalizer 40; Alex 41; and other whinners 22:40  |  North American 11/08/08
      63.   Georgia`s actions in Ossetia 22:58  |  Nick Potzayid 11/08/08
      64.   Time for Russia help train the palestinians:) 00:37  |  Josh 12/08/08
      65.   israel russia iran & georgia 00:47  |  matt 12/08/08
      66.   #16 peacelover 01:07  |  * BEN JABO 12/08/08
      67.   To Bigfacedog from Netanya 01:15  |  Libanais au Canada 12/08/08
      68.   It Was Georgia That Started This War 01:55  |  World Citizen 12/08/08
      69.   I would be Asamed to Admit to Training Anyone 02:20  |  Williams 12/08/08
      70.   Jewish Agency evacuated Jews from Ossetia today 02:32  |  Anonymous 12/08/08
      71.   Georgians are using Israeli techniques! 02:54  |  David James Vickery 12/08/08
      72.   Indrajaya is HILARIOUS 03:08  |  Craig 12/08/08
      73.   #66 Ben Jabo. Stop making excuses. 03:08  |  Maureen Ann 12/08/08
      74.   Israeli, the stormtroopers of US oil-interests 03:45  |  oetis 12/08/08
      75.   VICKERY what oil is there in Georgia and South Ossetia? 04:26  |  PETER SM 12/08/08
      76.   # 66. BEN JABO 04:38  |  indrajaya 12/08/08
      77.   INDRAJAYA Haven`t noticed? It is not the IDF fighting 05:38  |  PETER SM 12/08/08
      78.   Some of these comments are unbelievable 06:54  |  Mike 12/08/08
      79.   BTC 07:10  |  wiseUP 12/08/08
      80.   to terrornator 07:24  |  Unconue 12/08/08
      81.   exactly, mike 07:24  |  wiseUP 12/08/08
      82.   False Flag Terrorism Again? 12:26  |  Putin 12/08/08
      83.   No52: Terronator 15:02  |  Concerned Realist 12/08/08
      84.   Hizbullah resisted israel for 33 days 19:51  |  Canadian Jew 12/08/08
      85.   Hezbollah does not attack civillians 21:55  |  Marvelous Marcus 12/08/08
      86.   ISRAELI AID TO GEORGIA 23:28  |  AVI 12/08/08
      87.   #82, PUTIN, it`s called oil 11:32  |  VIPER 13/08/08
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