ISRAEL ROLE IN GEORGIAN CONFLICT

"It is important that the entire world understands that what is happening in Georgia now will affect the entire world
order," Georgian Cabinet Minister Temur Yakobashvili said last weekend. "It's not just Georgia's business, but the
entire world's business." Such sentiments would have been unremarkable but for the fact that Yakobashvili was
expressing himself in fluent Hebrew, telling Israeli Army Radio that "Israel should be proud of its military, which
trained Georgian soldiers."

However, the impression that Israel had helped bolster the Georgian military was one the Israeli Foreign Ministry was
anxious to avoid. Last Saturday it reportedly recommended a freeze on the further supply of equipment and expertise
to Georgia by Israeli defense contractors. (Israel doesn't supply foreign militaries directly, but its private contractors
must get Defense Ministry approval for such deals.) The Israelis decided to refrain from authorizing new defense
contracts, although those currently in effect will be fulfilled. Israel stressed that the contracts are to provide equipment
for defensive purposes. But if the Israelis were looking to downplay the significance of military ties, they weren't
helped by comments like Yakobashvili's — or by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's enthusing at a press
conference earlier this week that "the Israeli weapons have been very effective."

Nor did the Russians fail to notice. "Israel armed the Georgian army," grumbled General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy
chief of staff of the Russian military, at a press conference in Moscow earlier this week.

The extent of involvement in Georgia by Israeli defense contractors may be overstated, and most of the equipment
used by the Georgian military comes from the U.S. and other suppliers. Still, Israeli companies had been sufficiently
involved in supplying specialized equipment and advanced tactical training to the Georgian military that the
connection — and Russia's perception of it — created a ripple of anxiety in Israeli government circles. Israeli officials
say that, in anticipation of a showdown between Georgia and Russia, Israel began to scale back the involvement of
Israeli companies in Georgia as early as the end of 2007. Georgia's Yakobashvili charged this week that Israel, "at
Russia's behest," had downgraded military ties with Georgia, a decision he branded a "disgrace."

Israel's weapons sales, just like Russia's, are driven by the commercial interests of domestic arms industries. Israeli
military exports to Georgia are driven more by the logic of business than by a strategic choice to back Tbilisi against
Moscow — indeed, the Israeli response since the outbreak of hostilities is a reminder that, on balance, even a
relatively cool friendship with Russia may be more important to Israel than a close alliance with tiny Georgia. Despite
Israel's pecuniary imperative, Georgia has used these commercial military ties to press closer ties on Israel.

President Saakashvili has noted that both his minister responsible for negotiations over South Ossetia (Yakobashvili)
and his Defense Minister, Davit Kezerashvili, had lived in Israel before moving to post-Soviet Georgia. According to
the Israeli daily Haaretz, the Georgian leader this week enthused that in Tbilisi, "both war and peace are in the hands
of Israeli Jews." Working through the Georgian Defense Ministry (and with the approval of its Israeli counterpart),
Israeli companies are reported to have supplied the Georgians with pilotless drones, night-vision equipment, anti-
aircraft equipment, shells, rockets and various electronic systems. Even more important than equipment may have
been the advanced tactical training and consultancy provided, as private contractors, by retired top Israeli generals
such as Yisrael Ziv and Gal Hirsch, the man who commanded Israeli ground forces during their disastrous foray into
Lebanon in 2006. (Never one to resist an opportunity to mock his enemies, Hizballah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah
quipped in a speech this week, "Gal Hirsch, who was defeated in Lebanon, went to Georgia, and they too lost
because of him.") Not necessarily: Russia applied overwhelming force against the tiny Georgian military, which,
according to Israeli assessments, still managed to punch above its weight.

The Russians were piqued by Israel's military trade with Georgia even before the latest outbreak of hostilities —
Moscow expressed its annoyance over the pilotless drones supplied by an Israeli company to the Georgians, three of
which were downed by Russian aircraft over South Ossetia in recent months. Obviously mindful of the need to avoid
provoking Russia, Israel declared off-limits certain weapons systems the Georgians had asked for, such as Merkava
tanks and advanced anti-aircraft systems. "We have turned down many requests involving arms sales to Georgia,
and the ones that have been approved have been duly scrutinized," a Defense Ministry official told the Israeli daily
Yediot Ahoronot amid concerns raised over a possible fallout from the Israeli ties to the Georgian military. The extent
of damage to the Israeli-Russia relationship — if indeed there is any — remains to be seen. Despite General
Nogovitsyn's comments, Israeli officials say they have received no formal complaints from Russia over ties with
Georgia.