Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Betancourt rescue in Colombia: Israeli connection

(Ynet)

(Video) Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt mentions Israel in shower of praise following her rescue; most likely not by chance. Israeli advising team, headed by former Sayeret Matkal officer Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Israel Ziv, may have been involved in operation.

VIDEO - “I am unaware of a precedent to such a perfect mission. Maybe only the Israelis…their wonderful commandos may be reminiscent of the mission that took place here.” This is how kidnapped Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt described the daring rescue operation that brought her back to her family.

Betancourt was released on Wednesday in a complicated military campaign involving months of planning. It came into affect without one shot being fired.

The rescue of Betancourt and 14 additional hostages was made possible after the army succeeded in entrapping the rebels holding them in custody and causing them to place Betancourt and the rest of the captives on an unidentifiable helicopter which was supposedly intended on bringing them to a different camp.

Betancourt’s reference to Israel’s military history is most likely not by chance. Last year, a group of Israeli military advisors, receiving approval from the Israeli Defense Ministry, resided in Colombia in order to assist the army there and especially the special units.

The Israeli consultation was focused mainly on intelligence issues, special operations and integration and coordination between different security elements. This was in order to prepare them for a coordinated and productive campaign within a short period of time.

The group was headed by Major-General (Res.) Israel Ziv, who served as the head of operations in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit up until four years ago.

Ziv and at least some of his men have already returned but it is likely that the consultation he gave to the Colombian security forces assisted them in attaining the list of successes they have been enduring lately against the FARC rebel organization.

It is estimated, that the Israeli advisors did not participate in the impressive mission. In discussions with those close to him, Ziv emphasized that while in Colombia, he punctiliously abstains from actually involving himself in Colombia’s military and security operations and is content with solely supplying them with advice.

However, there is no doubt that the Israeli counseling, especially in the realm of intelligence and that connected with the use of covert operational tactics, greatly assisted the Colombian security forces in improving their capabilities.

In the past year, the rebels suffered great blows including the killing of their organization’s second-in-command; an operation that led to a severe diplomatic crisis between Venezuela and Ecuador and the arrest of one of their leaders who turned herself in, to the army.

Following her arrest, FARC senior official, Nelly Avila Moreno even said that her organization is “on the brink of collapse.” How much of the success can be attributed to the Israeli advisers? That will remain a mystery.

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Colombia hostage rescue: the Israeli angle

By Yossi Melman (Haaretz)

Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was released after six years in captivity on Wednesday, compared her “impeccable” rescue operation to Israeli commando operations.

Perhaps she did not know it, but Israel indeed contributed to the elaborately-planned, daring rescue mission.

Betancourt, who was kidnapped in 2002 by Marxist rebels in Colombia (FARC), was rescued without a shot being fired. Colombian military agents, who had penetrated FARC’s leadership, instructed her guards to transfer her to another rebel group.

Her captors put her on a helicopter that arrived as scheduled, little knowing that their comrades-in-arms were undercover Colombian soldiers. Betancourt and 14 other hostages who had been held in the jungle, including three Americans, were freed.

Since word of the dramatic rescue spread, speculation in the world media has attributed the success to people trained by Israeli intelligence. But an Israeli figure familiar with the military aid to Colombia said there was “no need to exaggerate” Israel’s involvement in the operation.

The Israelis involved in the operation feel it is important to accord the credit to Colombia. The Israeli activity, involving dozens of Israeli security experts, was coordinated by Global CST, owned by former General Staff operations chief, Brigadier General (res.) Israel Ziv, and Brigadier (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser.

“It’s a Colombian Entebbe operation,” Ziv said Thursday when he returned from Bogota. “Both regarding its national and international importance. Betancourt has become a symbol of the struggle against international terror. This is an amazing operation that wouldn’t shame any army or special forces anywhere in the world.”

Asked about the Israeli involvement in it Ziv said there is “no need to exaggerate.”

“We don’t want to take credit for something we didn’t do,” a company source said. “We helped them prepare themselves to fight terror. We helped them to plan operations and strategies and develop intelligence sources. That’s quite a bit, but shouldn’t be taken too far.”

Israelis may not have taken part in the rescue, but they advised and guided, sold equipment and intelligence technology.

The Israeli involvement began a year and a half ago, when Colombia asked Israel for help in its struggle against FARC, which had become a militia specializing in kidnapping civilians and military figures for ransom and drug trading.

Israel has over the years sold Colombia planes, drones, weapons and intelligence systems. At the Defense Ministry’s suggestion, Global CST won the $10 million contract to work with Colombia.

Ziv and Kuperwasser did not take part in the fighting, at the Defense Ministry’s instructions. They hired experts who had worked for the Mossad, Shin Bet security service and IDF in various capacities.

“Well I have to say that this operation was exclusively carried out by the Colombian Army,” Colombian ambassador to Israel Juan Hurtado Cano said in an interview with Infolive TV, Jerusalem.

(nods to franchie)