Foreign Ministry: Halt arms sales to Georgia

[Scurrilous]

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"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."

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"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."

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"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."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1009946.html