Round Round Get Around... 8

They get around:

"At least 7 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 50s and 60s. 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 7 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." (Why are so many Israelis arrested over illegal arms deals worldwide? Yossi Melman, Haaretz, 1/7/10) [*Monosodium glutamate of the earth?]

"Two Israeli businessmen have been arrested in Georgia on suspicion of offering the deputy finance minister millions of dollars in bribes, local media reported Saturday... According to the report, Ron Fuchs and Zeev Frenkiel were arrested two days ago during a meeting with Georgian Deputy Finance minister Avtandil Kharadze... According to Georgian prosecutors, the two were awarded nearly $100 million in an arbitration process, but the Georgian government had tried to challenge the decision to transfer them the money... The affair began in 1991, when a company represented by Fuchs started looking for investment opportunities in Georgia's energy sector. In 1992 the company established a joint venture with the Georgian state oil company and obtained concession on the construction of an oil pipeline to transport Azerbaijani oil to the western market via Georgia and Turkey. The two had sued the Georgian government after a deal they signed for the development of oil pipelines in the country was revoked." (2 Israelis suspected of bribing Georgian minister, Ronen Medzini, ynetnews.com, 16/10/10)

"A remote-control drone operated by the Mexican government crashed in the United States near El Paso, Texas, this week, the US Customs & Border Protection agency confirms to TPM... A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board... tells TPM that the plane that crashed was a 'mini-orbiter UAV' but declined to elaborate further. A Google search turns up a drone called an Orbiter Mini UAV made by Aeronautics Defense Systems, an Israeli company... Last year, Mexico spent $23.25 million to buy an 'unspecified' number of Hermes 450 drones from the Israel-based Elbit Systems Ltd, Reuters reported in August." (Unmanned Mexican drone crashes near El Paso, Texas, Eric Lach, tpmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com, 16/12/10)

"It is fitting that the man described as the 'fixer' in Kosovo's alleged organ [donor] ring was an Israeli of Turkish descent. Moshe Harel, a fugitive wanted by Interpol in connection with the case, is accused of matching potential donors recruited in Turkey with recipients, many if not all of whom had connections with Israel... Last month the recipients of organs illegally transplanted in a private hospital in South Africa were described as Israelis. The donors - said to have included children - were Brazilians and Romanians... Netcare of South Africa... admitted in court to receiving R3.8m from an illegal organ trafficking syndicate." (Kosovo organ donor ring: the Israeli connection, Paul Lewis, guardian.co.uk, 17/12/10)

"The police crackdown on a rogue [Trinidad & Tobago] Government spy agency at the break of dawn on October 23 this year was compromised by a police double agent, who tipped off agency head Nigel Clement that a high-level police swat team was on their way. Sunday Express investigations into the unfolding spy drama involving the abuse of secret wiretaps by the Patrick Manning administration, have found a tangled web of shadowy political and itelligence figures; Israeli operatives; a stunning amount of intercepted data that has little or nothing to do with crime; the whistle-blower intelligence analyst who called attention to the Government's secret electronic spying on citizens, including President George Maxwell Richards; a slush fund that ran well over the seven-figure mark; a coded message sent to the Israeli spy equipment manufacturer for urgent sanitisation assistance; and police spies." (Spy games, Camini Marajh, trinidadexpress.com, 18/12/10)