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LETTERS





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                   Arms exports facts                My point is that there are no “dark   Guardian of the Walls” (HaMizrachi Vol 4
                                                     rooms” with “former senior officers.”   No 3) to be particularly moving. The IDF
                   IN HIS ARTICLE “Israel and Arms   All transactions are performed in clear   fought the most recent war with Hamas
                   Exports” (HaMizrachi Vol 4 No 1), Rav   daylight under the watchful eye of   primarily through the air, responding
                   Yuval Cherlow writes, “...the arms export   DECA. When an Israeli company tried
                   environment is always accompanied by   bypassing DECA only a few months ago,   to Hamas’ attacks with targeted missile
                   moral decay. Because these transactions   officials caught them and the people   strikes. Given the constant barrage of
                   are often done “in the dark” because tre-                          rocket attacks on our towns and cities,
                   mendous amounts of money are involved...”   involved were arrested.  it was easy to forget that many of our
                                                                                      soldiers were dangerously exposed to
                   I have  been  working  in the Israeli   This is not to say that there are no   these attacks near the Gaza border,
                   defense industry for nearly 30 years.  halachic issues with arms export. As a
                                                     frum Jew, I have studied these issues at   often without secure bomb shelters
                   Here are some publically available   length. I have gone so far as to refuse   nearby.
                   facts: In the late 1990s, Israel wanted to   positions that I felt would be halachically   The young author honestly and power-
                   export advanced missiles and Airborne   problematic. But I suggest that halacha
                   Warning and Control System (AWACS)   cannot be adjudicated until fact is sep-  fully described the fear he experienced
                   aircraft to China. The US became aware   arated from fiction.      as the rockets fell around him. As a
                   of the deal and forced Israel to cancel                            mother, I am shaken by the dangers our
                   it, causing an international incident   Ari Sacher                 children must endure to protect our
                   with China.                       Marketing and Business Development,   country, but also deeply proud of the
                                                     RAFAEL                           incredible young people who put their
                   To prevent this from recurring, the                                lives on the line to protect all of us. May
                   Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD)                                 Hashem protect all of our brave young
                   created the Defence Export Control                                 soldiers and give them the strength and
                   Agency, DECA, or, in Hebrew, API – י”פא.  A powerful description   fortitude to carry on, b’simcha.
                                                     OF ALL THE Tisha B’Av edition arti-
                   DECA is responsible for the marketing                              Tamar Nector
                   and export licenses required to export   cles, I found “On the Front Line: A Sol-
                   weapons. DECA rules with an iron   dier’s First-Hand Account of Operation   Modiin
                   hand.
                   As one who regularly deals with this
                   sort of thing, DECA makes export-
                   ing weapon systems extremely dif-
                   ficult and often nearly impossible.
                   Marketing and export licenses are
                   required for even the most trivial
                   transactions. I have found myself on
                   the wrong side of DECA on numerous
                   occasions because I interpreted the
                   licensing rules more leniently than
                   they did. I do not know one person
                   in Israeli Defense Business Devel-
                   opment who has not had a similar   (PHOTO: IDF)
                   experience.



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