Recently declassified Israeli Foreign Ministry documents reveal deep Israeli military ties with Burma, now known as Myanmar, and its significant role in the brutal massacre of the Rohingya Muslims.
According to a report published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Thursday, the 25,000 pages of documents detail how the Israeli regime armed and trained the Burmese army, from the 1950s until the beginning of the 1980s.
Since the end of British rule in Myanmar in 1948, different parts of the country have been rocked by relentless civil war.
Declassified docs show Israel saw Myanmar military atrocity crimes as fertile ground for cooperation. Over decades, it helped arm, train & support the military. Eitay Mack & others are trying to halt this & demand a criminal investigation✊🏽@IsraelinMyanmar https://t.co/PGMWmlsWYA
— Justice For Myanmar (@JusticeMyanmar) October 7, 2022
Despite Israeli authorities being well aware of the situation, Israel perceived the deadly civil war in Burma as a “golden opportunity” for increasing its arms sales to Burma.
The documents reveal that one of the main aims of Israel was to win Burmese support in international forums, in exchange for its arms support, reported Haaretz.
The agreement between the two regimes consisted of 30 fighter aircraft, hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, 1,500 napalm bombs, 30,000 rifle barrels, thousands of mortar shells, and much more military equipment, from scouts’ tents to parachuting gear.
Ramzy Baroud – Rohingya Population Control: The Onslaught in Burma Continues | Palestine Chronicle http://t.co/Ko0Wxsrfne
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 6, 2013
In addition, dozens of Israeli experts were dispatched to Burma on training missions, and Burmese army officers came to Israel for comprehensive instruction on Israeli army bases. In cooperation with the Burmese army, Israel also established shipping, agricultural, tourism, and construction companies there.
Since August 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s State forces, while over 114,000 others beaten; as many as 18,000 women and girls were raped, and above 115,000 homes burned down, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).
(MEMO, PC, SOCIAL)
“Since the end of British rule in Myanmar in 1948, different parts of the country have been rocked by relentless civil war.”
Maybe ending British rule wasn’t such a good idea after all.