Gov't: Freeze arms sales to Georgia

The Foreign Ministry has recommended a complete halt to the sale of arms and any security-related equipment to Georgia in light of the recent fighting with Russian forces in the Caucasus. This would be a further tightening of an arms boycott on Tbilisi around a year after a decision had been made in Jerusalem to limit exports to Georgia only to defensive equipment.

Israel is concerned that Russia would choose to retaliate against Jerusalem for continued military support of Georgia by lifting restrictions on its arms transfers to Iran and Arab states.

"Israel needs to be very careful and sensitive these days," said a senior political source. "The Russians are selling many arms to Iran and Syria and there is no need to offer them an excuse to sell even more advanced weapons."

The source noted that Israel is particularly interested in the transfer of advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, and therefore Jerusalem must show restraint in its arm sales to Georgia.

"The day we will want to prevent a future deal with Iran, our hands must be clean," the source said.

Last Wednesday discussions were held at the Foreign Ministry on the crisis in South Ossetia. At the end of the meeting a decision was made to recommend to the Defense Ministry that Israel would avoid the sale of any military equipment to Georgia because the country was now a "combat zone."

The Foreign Ministry also recommends that the issue be revisited after the situation stabilizes and the fighting ceases.

But a final decision on the matter will be made by the Defense Ministry in the coming days.

About six months ago, the Defense Ministry imposed significant limitations on the arms transfers from Israel to Georgia, in view of the growing friction between Tbilisi and Moscow.

The decision followed strong protests by Russian officials over the growing involvement of retired Israeli military and security experts, and the increased procurement by Georgia of Israeli technology and hardware.

According to instructions issued by the office charged with supervising military sales abroad, all sales of offensive equipment were stopped, but defensive equipment and advisers were allowed.

Existing contracts were not canceled, but a long list of new contracts whose negotiations had been completed were not approved.

The decision resulted in protests by Israeli arms exporters, and since then the defense ministry has issued restrictions on the role Israeli advisers can play in Georgia.

One of the firms involved announced yesterday that all its personnel have been evacuated from Georgia.

Israel is not considered to be one of the main arms suppliers of Georgia. The scope of the defense deals between the two countries stands at $200 million. The two largest suppliers to Georgia are the United States and France.

However, the security ties between the two countries have received a great deal of media attention, in part because of the capture, on film, of a Russian jet downing an Israeli-made drone in Georgian service, and the role that senior retired Israeli officers have played as advisers to the Georgian security forces.