Israel Teaches the Philippine Army to Fight Insurgents

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Israel has taught the Philippine Army for the

first time how to fight Muslim separatists and communist guerrillas,

the latest tightening of relations between the two nations which

includes Israeli weapons sales and sharing intelligence about

international Islamist extremists.

Even though Israeli boots were on the ground just in the capital

Manila, it risked alienating some of the Philippines' nearly six

percent Muslim population who live mostly in the south.

They are already battered by years of increasing Islamist demands for

independence and the subsequent worsening violence in a country that

is more than 80 percent Roman Catholic.

Perhaps to dampen any controversy, only about 10 Israeli Defense Force

(IDF) soldiers trained 180 Philippine Army troops who can now then

teach those lessons to other soldiers.

The June 26-July 4 Counter-Terrorism Trainer's Training (CTTT) focused

on how to fight an insurgency in urban and rural zones and use combat

technology.

"The CTTT is the first training collaboration between the Philippines

Army and the IDF to be held in the Philippines," said Philippine Army

spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala.

"Although they have different experiences, there are similarities, so

it's important that we establish a methodology on how to go about our

anti-terrorism and combat techniques," Lt. Col. Zagala said.

Relations between the two U.S. allies have rapidly grown stronger and

more personal during the past few years between Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Philippine Air Force plans to buy from Israel millions of dollars

worth of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems' medium-range, surface-to-air

SPYDER missiles, plus Hermes long-range drones.

Those weapons would bolster earlier purchases of Israeli drones,

radars and 100 armored vehicles.

Tel Aviv-based Ratio Oil Exploration Ltd. hopes Mr. Duterte will award

it exclusive rights to explore for oil and natural gas off the

Philippine coast near northeast Palawan province, according to

Manila's Department of Energy.

The Philippines has fought diverse rebel groups during past decades

and some peace deals have been struck. But other battles are

escalating.

The bloodiest clashes involve the military's inability to defeat

Islamist guerrillas known as Abu Sayyaf.

The rebels have waged battles for independence on Muslim-majority

southern islands for several years using bombings, kidnappings and

beheadings which have killed more than 150,000 people on all sides.

"We recovered parts like head, feet. Both of them are male. We still

don't know if they are foreign or local," the army's Joint Task Force

Sulu spokesman Gerald Monfort said July 2, describing a likely

double-suicide bombing which killed five people on June 28 at a

military base.

"Our main suspect is Abu Sayyaf. They are the only one with a motive

to sow terror" on Jolo island in the Sulu archipelago, Mr. Monfort

said according to Reuters.

In January, Abu Sayyaf were suspected of setting off two bombs,

minutes apart, on Jolo island destroying a Roman Catholic cathedral

during a Sunday Mass which left 20 people dead and wounded 111.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility,

according to their news agency Amaq.

In 2017 on nearby Mindanao island, hundreds of Abu Sayyaf and other

ISIS-linked insurgents including foreigners besieged Marawi, the

biggest Muslim city in the Philippines.

For five months, desperate government troops bombed and assaulted

Marawi's urban maze until they crushed the rebels. Authorities said

920 guerrillas, 165 soldiers and at least 45 civilians perished in the

fight.

Much of Marawi was reduced to ruins and 300,000 residents fled.

During a four-day visit to Israel in September 2018, Mr. Duterte

thanked Mr. Netanyahu for helping to end the Marawi siege which "could

have dragged on were it not for the very substantial and crucial

equipment" from Israel.

"The help that you extended was very critical in winning the war," Mr.

Duterte said without elaborating.

Both nations "share the same passion for peace, we share the same

passion for human beings, and we share the same passion of not

allowing our countries to be destroyed by those with corrupt

ideologies," he said.

Mr. Netanyahu replied: "Mr. President, we remember our friends. And

that friendship has blossomed over the years, and especially over the

last few years."

The two countries will develop "military and intelligence products and

hardware," the Philippine government said at the time.

Smaller Islamist rebels have also staged attacks in the southern

Philippines and pledged allegiance to ISIS.

Israel's military training may also strengthen Philippine troops

elsewhere against communists.

In Negros Oriental, a central province, two anti-personnel landmine

explosions on June 24 killed one soldier and injured two others during

clashes with Communist Party guerrillas known as the New People's Army

(NPA).

The government condemned the rebels because the NPA and Manila earlier

agreed to stop "indiscriminate bombings, shelling, strafing and the

use of landmines."

During the jungle fight, "improvised landmines that were planted" made

it difficult for troops to seize an abandoned rebel camp where they

discovered ammunition, documents and other items, the government

reported.

Manila's military relations with Tel Aviv include the Philippines'

entanglement with Beijing.

"Israel and the Philippines maintain close security ties, with Israel

selling a large amount of weaponry to the Philippine Army over the

years. And with tensions in the South China Sea, the overall flow of

arms to the region has spiked," the Jerusalem Post reported.

The Philippines is among several nations in territorial disputes with

China in the resource-rich sea.

"Duterte has said in the past that he sees Israel as an alternative

supplier of weapons, and during his visit he told President Reuven

Rivlin that he intends to buy military equipment exclusively from

Israel because of the country's lack of restrictions, unlike the

United States and other countries have refused to sell him arms over

human rights violations," the Times of Israel reported.

Mr. Duterte is internationally condemned -- including among Israelis

-- for his war on drugs which allegedly resulted in thousands of

extrajudicial street executions, mostly by security forces, after he

took office in 2016.

To personalize his visit to Israel, Mr. Duterte brought his daughter

from his first wife Elizabeth Zimmerman.

"My [former] wife is a Zimmerman...a descendant of an American Jew,"

he told Israelis.

Israel has repeatedly praised the Philippines for sheltering more than

1,300 Jewish refugees from Nazi-controlled Germany and Austria during

the Holocaust, and being the only Asian nation to vote for the U.N.

Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947 before establishing diplomatic

relations in 1957.

As a result, Israel allows Filipino tourists to visit for 90 days

without a visa.

Mr. Netanyahu said his father, who died aged 102, "received incredible

care by a caregiver from the Philippines, a woman of exceptional

compassion and intelligence" who was among 30,000 people from the

Southeast Asian nation currently working in Israel, mostly in health

care.

***

Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco,

California, reporting news from Asia since 1978 and winner of Columbia

University's Foreign Correspondent's Award. He co-authored three

non-fiction books about Thailand, including "'Hello My Big Big Honey!'

Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews," "60

Stories of Royal Lineage," and "Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News

Since 1946." Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the chapter "Ceremonies

and Regalia" in a book published in English and Thai titled, "King

Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life's Work: Thailand's Monarchy in

Perspective." Mr. Ehrlich's newest book, "Sheila Carfenders, Doctor

Mask & President Akimbo" portrays a 22-year-old American female mental

patient who is abducted to Asia by her abusive San Francisco

psychiatrist.

His online sites are:

https://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com

https://www.amazon.com/Hello-Big-Honey-Revealing-Interviews/dp/1717006418

https://www.amazon.com/Sheila-Carfenders-Doctor-President-Akimbo/dp/1973789353/

https://www.facebook.com/SheilaCarfenders





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