A mercenary who allegedly helped train a “hit squad” for the Colombian drug cartel was identified Wednesday night by Israel Television as a colonel in the Israel Defense Force reserves.
He is Yair Klein, founder and president of Hod Hahanit (Spearhead), an Israeli firm that exports security and military know-how, the television report said.
His alleged activities on behalf of drug traffickers were exposed in an NBC News broadcast Monday of what was purported to be a videotape made by a Colombian drug syndicate.
The videotape, broadcast Tuesday on Israel Television, showed uniformed men being trained and the faces of the trainers, who NBC said were Israelis and South Africans.
The man identified as Israeli was heard speaking Hebrew, which was translated into Spanish.
The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it was conducting a thorough investigation of the NBC report. Its statement stressed that if the report was true, the individuals involved were acting on their own, in violation of “Israeli law and policy, which is strongly committed to the war on drugs.”
Israeli police said Wednesday they have asked Interpol, the international police information clearinghouse, for help to identify any Israelis involved in training “hit squads.”
Yehoshua Caspi, chief of police investigations, said he was seeking more information from the Colombian police and from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to see if the NBC News report could be substantiated.
According to Israel Television, Klein has been active in military training abroad since retiring from the IDF.
He employed a number of former senior IDF officers in his firm. Israel Television named Col. Avraham Zedaka, a paratrooper and former commander of an anti-terrorist squad, and Ya’acov Briyan, a helicopter pilot.
Briyan told Israel Radio Thursday morning that he never actually worked for Hod Hahanit. He said he was contacted by the firm some time ago and asked if he would be willing to serve as a special consultant on helicopter operations, if such services were required.
According to Briyan, the company never again contacted him, and he assumed that his services were not needed.
The Colombian drug traffickers are known to maintain armed gangs and assassination squads.
The U.S. State Department is interested in reports that Israelis and South Africans may be training them, and is said to be giving serious attention to the NBC videotape.
EXPERIENCED COMBAT VETERANS
But to many Israelis it comes as no surprise. There is no shortage of experienced combat veterans in Israel who retire from active service at relatively early ages.
Because there are limited opportunities at home, they seek to market their skills and know-how abroad.
The Defense Ministry in 1986 instituted a licensing system for firms and individuals who want to deal in the export of either military weaponry or military skills.
The licenses are temporary and require periodic renewal. One license is required to initiate contacts with a prospective buyer. Another must be obtained to commence negotiations and a third is required before a contract is signed or implemented.
Those tough requirements are intended to limit damage that might be done to Israel by the activities of Israeli mercenaries abroad.
The Defense Ministry’s criteria for issuing licenses include the applicant’s identity, the type of equipment or knowledge offered for export and the country of destination. Every license must be approved by the ministry’s director general.
Defense sources disclosed recently that about 800 individuals are licensed to export military equipment and know-how.
Hod Hahanit sources were quoted as saying that the firm had the necessary export licenses.
But Ma’ariv quoted security sources Wednesday to the effect that the firm’s license to export to Colombia had expired and had not been renewed.
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