A member of the Israeli-Canadian "lobby" (pressure group) said former Mossad officer Ari Ben-Menashe, who was used by the military leaders for the coup in Myanmar;

These leaders want to leave politics, improve relations with the United States, and distance themselves from China.

In his defense of the military leaders, Ben-Menashe said that the leader of the opposition in Myanmar, Aung San Sochi, whose government was overthrown by the military on February 1, tried to approach China, contrary to the wishes of the army generals, which sparked their anger and resentment.

It is likely that Ben Menashe - a former official in the Israeli military intelligence - that the Myanmar generals are keen to leave politics after their coup, and are seeking to improve relations with the United States and distance themselves from China, according to statements he made to Reuters.

He confirmed that Myanmar generals had assigned him and his Canadian-based company, Dickens & Madson, to help communicate with the United States and other countries, which he said had “misunderstood them.” He also made clear that the government of opposition leader Aung San Myanmar has become so close to China that it is not surprising. Generals.

Demonstrations against the military coup in Myanmar (Anatolia)

Ben Menashe and the Israeli Army

Ari Ben-Menashe, 69, immigrated to Israel in the early 1960s at an early age from Iran, where he was born in the capital, Tehran, to Jewish parents of Iraqi origin, and because of his mastery of the Persian language, he served as an interpreter in the Israeli army.

In the seventies and early eighties, he joined Unit 8200 of the Military Intelligence Division, and later in the Foreign Relations Unit of the Israeli army.

After Ben-Menashe ended his military service, he resorted to private business. In the second half of the 1980s, he tried to sell American weapons to Iran. Reports indicate that he was involved in the 1986 Iran-Contra deal.

Arms deals and arrest in America

He was arrested in the United States in 1992 on charges of being involved in selling military aircraft to Iran in 1989, during the Iran-Iraq war, and eventually a New York court acquitted him of the charges against him.

After his release, Ben-Menashe became the source for many of America's leading journalists and researchers, about the events in Iran and the Israeli intelligence services.

Between Australia and Canada

Ben-Menashe has published numerous books on a number of files, and has appeared as a witness and expert before numerous congressional investigative committees.

After much of his information was denied in the United States, Ben-Menashe moved to Australia in 1993, but was expelled from it after his request for political asylum was rejected.

He then moved to Canada, and there he was known as the person who was behind the campaign of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe against his opponents from the opposition and installed him in power until he stepped down in 2017.

While in Canada, Ben-Menashe headed a consulting firm "Dickens & Madison", a relationship firm that provides services to a number of countries around the world, mostly in Africa and Asia.

Services and advice for African rulers

At the end of the eighties of the last century, according to what was reported by the Israeli newspaper "Globus" by Ben-Menashe, Tel Aviv - whose relations had deteriorated with most parts of Africa - was keen to find a channel with the President of Zimbabwe, Mugabe, who did not tolerate Israel, partly due to the role The questionable role played by Tel Aviv in extending the rule of the white minority in South Africa, as he was assigned by the Mossad to mediate with Mugabe.

For two decades, Ben-Menashe provided services to Mugabe, and also said that he provided advisory services to the Sudanese Military Council, which took power following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir's regime in April 2019, but he categorically refused to reveal the nature of these services.

The leader of the military coup, Min Aung Hling, had previously visited Israel in 2015 and signed agreements to supply weapons (Anatolia).

Suspicious arms deals

According to military analyst Yossi Melman, Ben-Menashe's name appeared in the international media in the context of suspicious arms deals and political advice to dictators in Africa.

Melman explained that Canadian media revealed that one of Ben-Menashe's associates 10 years ago was an international fraudster and wanted by the American judiciary on charges of fraud, and another suspicious deal was revealed in Canada that was linked to a Canadian doctor of Sierra Leonean origin, as the two tried to present an arms deal worth 120 million Dollars to African countries.

Israel and Myanmar

Guy Alastair, head of the international news section of the Israeli website "Walla," believes that the Myanmar military council - which has close ties with Israel - is actually heading to move away from China and open up to America and the West, and its distinguished relations with Israel may be a catalyst for it.

He stated that relations between Israel and Myanmar were further strengthened in 1988, after the coup and the seizure of power by the military council that ruled the country until 2010, and actually until November 2015, and this period was marked by the intensification of the exchange of visits of security and military delegations between the two countries.

Immediately after the coup, the Israeli journalist says that "a European embargo was imposed on Myanmar, which the United States later joined, as the military council, which was looking for new suppliers of weapons for the army and police, went to Israel, and in August 1989, two ships arrived in Myanmar." They were loaded with Israeli weapons, including 55 mm anti-tank missiles and 40 mm grenade launchers, and this was the beginning of the deals. "

Relationships and deals

On the nature of the relationship between Israel and Myanmar, political correspondent for the newspaper "Yediot Aharonot" Itamar Eichner said, "The relationship focused mainly on Israeli assistance in the fields of security, agriculture, health and innovation."

Months before the military coup - according to the Israeli journalist - "new commercial channels expanded between the two sides, with the establishment of a pioneering trade body and chamber, as this step was taken in cooperation with the Israeli embassy in Yangon, the economic capital of Myanmar."

Eichner explained that the goal of the joint chamber of commerce is to triple the limited trade between the two countries, as it currently stands at $ 4 million annually, with a focus on agriculture, health and assistance in creating an innovation environment in Myanmar, and contacts with Israeli companies have begun with the support of the Economy Department of the Foreign Ministry.

America and Europe

Eichner attributed the inauguration of the Joint Chamber of Commerce to Israel's expectation that the interest of many European countries, America and the international business community in Myanmar will be great, to the extent that expectations suggest that it will be the next Asian tiger in Southeast Asia.

He pointed out that Israel and Myanmar had maintained close diplomatic relations since 1953, and in 1955 Myanmar Prime Minister Ono, who was the head of the first Asian country to recognize Israel, visited Tel Aviv, and in 1961 Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion visited Myanmar.

Since the 1960s, Eichner says, “Israel has supplied Myanmar with weapons, but since 2018 Tel Aviv has stopped providing security assistance in line with an international embargo on Myanmar due to its accusation of war crimes against the Rohingya Muslim minority.