“Been there, done that!” I am experienced and thereby justifiably cynical. Israel is facing grave peril. Time is of the essence. This time I will not act with restraint. I will not repeat the mistake of spending almost two years suffering the frustration of trying to get an Israeli politician to quietly meet with me.

The training of Palestinian security services personnel, including the Fatah terrorists, has been proceeding for several years. The scope and extent of this training is increasing, especially now that the United States is participating, perhaps even usurping leadership of the effort from the Europeans. Bottom line is that the training and the weaponry supplied to the Palestinians has been used more often against Israeli civilians and security personnel than for what you or I would characterize as “policing.” History will bear witness to the result of the education provided during the latter half of the 1990s to Palestinian security forces under the rubric of police and anti-terror training; the murder of Israeli civilians and soldiers, perhaps reaching into the hundreds.

During the first years of the bloody Intifada initiated by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Yassar Arafart in September 2000, I was able to confirm rumors of CIA subcontractors training Palestinian police in advanced anti-terror tactics and techniques, including sniping. Worse than acquiescing to the training, the Israeli Government was not disseminating the Programs of Instruction (POI) used in the “police” courses. Israeli Border Police officers and IDF soldiers were dying because they did not know what the terrorists had been taught. I thought this lethal failure to prepare our security personnel must be because the course curricula were not in Israel’s possession.

With the assistance of friends inside the Beltway I arranged for the course material to be provided, however Israel would have to make an official, formal, through-channels request for the material. I tried to schedule a fifteen minute meeting to inform the Israeli Government of what I had arranged and to persuade the “powers-that-be” to request the POIs. For two years without success, I pursued Israeli Government Ministers, Members of Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) and ranking government ministry officials. During that time Ministers came and went and swapped Ministries as if there was a Chinese Fire Drill. It mattered not whether I faxed, phoned or emailed. I could not get past the phalanx of assistants, spokespersons, media consultants, communications advisors and secretaries. After over 100 unsuccessful attempts to schedule a meeting I had achieved nothing except making myself feel dejected, disgusted and disgruntled.

Then came a call from an acquaintance in the IDF. He was loosing the men his school trained, not only the newly graduated, but also the veterans, to terrorist snipers. He explained that he simply could not handle attending any more funerals. He could not face anymore bereaved mothers or newly widowed wives. He told me that he had heard I knew how to acquire the terrorists’ training book. He wanted it. He wanted it badly enough that he was willing to ask for my help to obtain it. I renewed my efforts to meet with a government Minister. The third time is a charm. Uzi Landau, previously Minister of Internal Security, now Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, agreed to meet.

Cabinet Minister Landau instantly realized the critical nature of obtaining the lesson plans. He raised the issue at the next Israeli Government Cabinet Meeting. He was told Israel already had the material! So he informed me. I responded that I was involved in training the Border Police snipers and that neither I, nor my counterparts in the IDF, had been provided with the material. At the following Cabinet Meeting Minister Landau inquired further. He was informed that the materials in question had been provided to the IDF. When the Minister told that to me, I passed the information along to my acquaintance telling him, “seek up the chain-of-command and yea shall find.” The chain-of-command told him all the terrorists who had undergone the training had been killed (not correct). Therefore he didn’t need the materials. As far as I know to this day, the POI(s) have never gotten into the hands of any instructor.

Back in pre-Intifada 1999, an Israeli Ministry of Internal Security/National Police Professional Committee determined that Sharp Shooters/Precision Marksmen (a.k.a. Snipers) were “offensive” and given that the Israeli Police is a defensive organization, concluded that Sharp Shooters were inappropriate for the police. July 2007, the Israeli Police implemented that conclusion and disbanded the Sharp Shooter Units of Israeli Police Civil Guard and the snipers in the Border Police. The Civil Guard Units had existed for 34 years, the Border Police sniper program for 10 years. In a heartbeat not only was our Jerusalem Sharp Shooter Unit gone, but also my volunteer instructing of Border Police sniper courses.

On August 20th the US State Department announced that soon training officers of a Palestinian Authority diplomatic security service was to commence. That caption from the Jerusalem Post article revived my spirit a bit. Clearly more precision marksman/sniper training was about to commence. I thought to myself, this time let’s get the course curricula, all of them, and educate our soldiers and Border Police officers before the training provided to the Palestinian Authority security personnel is put to use killing Israelis.

In my previous experience trying to meet with Israeli government leadership I repeatedly requested an audience with Member of Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) Yuval Steinitz, Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. It was an exercise in utter frustration. Now he was in the Opposition. I thought obtaining 15 minutes of the MK’s time, whenever and wherever most convenient for him, would be achievable.

Immediately I tried to contact MK Steinitz. The Knesset was at recess. There was no answer at his Knesset office and no other way of contacting him. The following day an aid answered the phone. “Didn’t I know [stupid] it was recess?” I explained why I wanted to meet with the MK and immediately faxed a requested copy of my October 2005 exposé about the CIA training Palestinian snipers. Days of unanswered and unreturned phone calls followed. On September 3rd I finally reached one of the MK’s aids. I was impolitely told to call back “after the Holidays,” that meant after October 7th. Deja vu.

Avigdor Liberman is both Minister of Strategic Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister. I knew he had caused positive, if short-lived, changes in IDF sniping. I thought him maligned in the media. I had offered to help him become honestly known to Americans. As soon as the phone was hung up on my call to MK Steinitz’s aid, I telephone Cabinet Minister Liberman’s office. I spoke with the Minister’s Media Advisor explaining why I needed 15 minutes of the Minister’s time. I was repeatedly asked to call back or I was promised a callback that never came, again and again and again. After 10 days of being put-off I was told to call back and speak to one of the aids, “after the holidays.” NO! Hell No! I am finished chasing politicians.

American, British and European Union instructors are training the Palestinian security services personnel and Fatah terrorists in police, security service and counter-terror courses including precision marksmanship. The threat posed from these trained Palestinian Authority security personnel grows as the number of graduates of these courses increase. Their weapons, ammunition and tactics are improving. They have already proven themselves to be effective and efficient cold-blooded, deadly murderers. Repeatedly. At least when they decide to murder Israelis as opposed to fighting HAMAS from who they run.

I pray I am wrong, but there is every reason to believe that history is repeating itself. I have yet to discover any evidence that the POIs from courses taught, being taught or that will be taught are being shared with the Israeli security personnel against whom we all know the training will ultimately be employed. Not doing so is an inexcusable, despicable and contemptible act exposing all that is rotten within the leadership of Israel’s military and security services.

Hey You - Yes You, You know whom I am talking to. Didn’t you ever learn that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it?

Obtain every course curriculum, POI, syllabus and all video and textual material and all handouts. Get all available information about the entities and their personnel actually doing the training. Have some of your best and brightest audit each and every course. Conduct a through review of the information amassed. Do so using individuals who not only understand the source material at mother-tongue level, but also speak the jargon of the course material at mother-tongue level. These individuals should also, independent from the material they are analyzing, possess an understanding of the nature of the subject matter. They can determine what may need to be taught to IDF and Border Police personnel and put together the required training materials.

Then teach what needs to be taught!