The U.S. authorities’ recent arrest of
an Israeli for seeking to sell arms to Somalia raises disturbing
questions and answers
By Yossi Melman
Ha'aretz | Thursday, 1 July 2010
At least seven Israeli arms dealers are currently in jail in
four countries – the United States, Russia, France and Britain –
on charges of illegal arms dealing. Some of them are also
suspected of crimes such as forgery, bribery, money laundering
and violating UN Security Council embargoes. Such arrests are
briefly covered in Israel and then forgotten. But they have a
cumulative effect that is very damaging to Israel’s image, or
what remains of it.
Even though it is doubtful whether those in jail know one
another, they have quite a lot in common. All are men in their
fifties or sixties. All are well to do (or were in the past ),
having made most of their money in international arms dealing or
in exporting security services and equipment from Israel. They
served in the Israel Defense Forces and reached mid-level ranks
(from captain to lieutenant colonel ), and when they were
arrested, they denied the charges. Friends who came to their
assistance described them, naturally, as “the salt of the
earth.”
All seven are familiar faces in the corridors of the defense
establishment, and at one time received arms dealing permits
from the Defense Ministry. All sought to “expedite procedures”
in violation of local or international laws, and did so out of
pure greed. Due to this covetousness, they also fell into traps
and can expect to face many years in jail.
Shimon Naor-Hershkowitz is detained in France and will
apparently be extradited to Romania, where he will serve an
11-year jail sentence. He was convicted of forging documents
(end-user certificates ) that he used to purchase Romanian arms
together with a Romanian partner (who later informed on him to
the authorities ). The arms were ostensibly destined for Togo,
but in reality were sent to rebels in Angola.
Yair Klein has been held for over a year in a Russian jail,
after being arrested there at the behest of Colombia, which
wants him on charges of training drug barons’ bodyguards. Klein,
almost 70, may be the Israeli who comes closest to being a
“mercenary” of the ugliest sort. He has previously done jail
time in Sierra Leone.
In a British jail sits Gidon Sarig, 58, who was sentenced
several months ago to seven years in prison for selling arms and
other combat gear to parties in Venezuela, Peru, Senegal,
Nigeria, Gabon and, primarily, Sri Lanka.
And in January, Ofer Pazaf, 50, the president of a Kfar Sava
company that works as an intermediary and represents security
consultants and defense industries, was arrested in Las Vegas.
Arrested with him were two other Israelis who have lived in the
U.S. for several years: Yohanan Cohen, 47, the CEO of a San
Francisco company that manufactures security gear, and Haim
Gary, 50, the president of a Miami company that functions as a
middleman for defense companies.
All three, along with 20 Americans and people of other
nationalities, were arrested in a sting operation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigations. One of the agents posed as a
representative of the defense minister of an African country and
pretended to be looking to purchase arms in return for a bribe –
known in the professional lingo as a “commission.”
The latest Israeli to find himself behind bars is Hanoch
Miller, 53, who was arrested a few days ago in the United
States. Together with his partner, retired U.S. Air Force
colonel Joseph O’Toole, he is charged with attempts to obtain
and sell thousands of AK-47 (Kalashnikov ) rifles to the
“government” of Somaliland, a separatist region of northern
Somalia. The arms were to have been purchased in the United
States and to have been sent on cargo planes to Panama and
Bosnia, and from there to Somaliland. But the plan fell through
because the third partner, who was supposed to purchase the
rifles for Miller and O’Toole, was actually an informer for the
customs authorities.
European sources – security and insurance personnel working
in Somalia, who are well acquainted with the area – told Haaretz
that this story does not make sense, and that the official
version put out by the U.S. authorities may conceal a different
story. For instance, the indictment stated that the arms were to
have been sent to a city called Bandera in northern Somalia. But
a look at a map of Somalia reveals that this name is fictitious:
No such place exists in Somalia.
Moreover, the shipping documents stated that the cargo was
for “the Ministry of Defense of the Somali Republic.” But the
government of the separatist area known as Somaliland does not
refer to itself as the “Somali Republic.” Ever since the
military coup in 1969 that sent the country down the sewer, its
official name has been the Democratic Republic of Somalia.
And above all, there is the question of why the government of
Somaliland would need to hire the services of Hanoch Miller, an
Israeli arms dealer, when it could easily obtain the arms it
needs from the United States or Ethiopia, which both support it.
There are several possible answers.
One is that Miller, who initiated the deal, either intended
to supply the arms to one of the armed groups operating in
Somalia or was tricked into doing so. Somalia, it must be
recalled, is also home to various training camps for global
jihad operatives. Indeed, two of the Israeli Arabs arrested in
the Galilee this week – on suspicion of murdering a taxi driver
and seeking to set up a world jihad cell inspired by Osama Bin
Laden’s philosophy – flew to Ethiopia (where they were arrested
) in order to infiltrate into Somalia and undergo training in
one of these camps.
The second and equally worrisome possibility is that the arms
shipments were a camouflage to enable the planes to land in
Somalia, where they would load up with other merchandise that
fetches high prices on the streets of Europe. Either way, it is
doubtful if we will ever know the truth about Hanoch Miller’s
exploits in Somalia.
The only consolation that those who care about Israel’s
reputation can find is that if in the past, the supposed creme
de la creme of Israeli society would quickly receive
high-profile assistance from government officials, ministers
(like Ephraim Sneh on behalf of Naor-Hershkowitz ) and former
comrades in arms, this time – apparently because of Israel’s
commitment to adopt the norms of the OECD, which it recently
joined – the arms dealers are attracting only low-key interest
and getting assistance from relatives and close friends alone.
Photo: Armed fighters from the militant group Hizbul
Islam in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, last week (Reuters).
See also: Israeli, American
indicted for gun running to Somalia
