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False Charges Against U.S.-Israel Police Cooperation

(Jerusalem Post) Sarah Leibovitz-Dar - Students for Justice in Palestine claimed on its Facebook page that Israel "is aiding the NYPD and other U.S. police departments in the oppression and killing of black people." When I asked Orlando Police Chief John Mina, who was part of a delegation of U.S. police officers who visited Israel in August: "Have you heard the claim...that U.S. police officers are using knowledge they gained in Israel to kill black people?" he burst out laughing. "We're not here to learn how to kill black people. We're learning how to fight against terrorism. How to evacuate people at the scene of an attack. It only takes Israelis a couple of hours to clear an attack scene, whereas we need a few days." MK Mickey Levy, who served as the Israel Police representative in the U.S., noted, "The Americans are much better at dealing with crime than we are - and they've also been doing it for a much longer time. In this field, we have a lot to learn from them, not them from us." Yitzhak Dadon, director of the Israel Prison Rehabilitation Authority, added, "Our mode of operation is extremely different too. Israeli policemen never shoot citizens. In the U.S., on the other hand, there is a history of civilians shooting at officers, and so the police had to institute methods of protection. But this has nothing to do with us. The Israel-U.S. cooperation is focused entirely on terrorism. We haven't taught them any new methods of action, but they've introduced us to Taser guns." Former MK David Tzur, a former Tel Aviv SWAT commander, said, "When it comes to traditional policing issues, we are the ones who learn from them. We both benefit from technological developments, and teach each other ideas. The people who are calling for our police cooperation to be severed will also soon be asking for our military cooperation to cease, too."
2016-10-05 00:00:00
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