Israeli Landmine Policy

Aharon Etengoff, Senior Researcher

and Prof. Gerald Steinberg, Program Director

Arms Control and Human Security Division

Program on Conflict Management and Negotiation

Bar Ilan University

Ramat Gan

November 9, 2000

Fax: 972-3-5357931

Tel: 972-3-5318043

Introduction:

The movement to prohibit the manufacture and use of landmines[1] has become an increasingly important element of humanitarian and arms control initiatives. In 1997, following a series of preliminary meetings, representatives from a number of states assembled in Ottawa to sign the Convention on the Prohibition on the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines. This regime is quite different from most international arms control treaties and conventions, in that it does not include a formal verification mechanism and emphasizes humanitarian, rather than security elements. In addition, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the International Coalition to Ban Landmines (ICBL) play a leading role, in some case with the support of governments, but in many cases, without such support.

While a large number of countries have ratified this pact, other states, including the U.S. and Russia, continue to have major reservations that prevent ratification of the Convention. [2]

In the Middle East, (as in other regions of continuing conflict) a small number of states have joined the Ottawa convention. However, the majority of Middle Eastern countries continue to perceive landmines as a vital element in the preservation of national security.

In Israel, there is significant amount of sympathy for the concept and efforts to abolish landmines, although Israel’s security realities have prevented ratification of the agreement. As will be explained below, the Israeli government has made an effort, (albeit within the limits of national security requirements) to remove unnecessary minefields and limit the extent of mine deployment. While Israel is currently unable to ratify the Ottawa convention, Israelis are actively involved with international cooperative programs that are dedicated to the humanitarian issues and goals of the Ottawa initiative.

In this report, we describe and analyze Israel’s landmine policy; based on a careful, and, to the extent possible, apolitical examination of reliable and verified evidence.

Mine Ban Policy

Israel’s policy regarding the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition on the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction was stated at the signing conference in Ottawa, by Ambassador David Sultan, attending as an observer. He explained that "Due to our unique situation in the Middle East involving an ongoing threat of hostilities as well as terrorist threats...we are still obliged to maintain antipersonnel landmines as necessary for self-defense....[3] Israel, regrettably is unable to sign the treaty until effective alternative measures are available to ensure the protection of civilians threatened on a daily basis by terrorists and to ensure the protection of Israeli forces operating in areas of armed conflict.”[4] Thus, Israel is not a signatory to the 1997 Convention—and this is unlikely to change until the security environment improves significantly.

In general, Israeli policy on arms limitation issues emphasizes regional agreements that focus on the specific security environment in the Middle East, and involve mutual verification among the parties. Nevertheless, Israel supported the negotiation on the ban of transfer of mines at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. Observers were sent to the preparatory meetings throughout 1997, but not to the Oslo conference.[5] (However, as noted above, the Israeli ambassador participated as an observer at the Ottawa conference in 1997.)

Israeli officials have stated that they support the humanitarian goals and concepts of the Landmine Ban, even though Israel is currently unable to sign.

In 1997, before the Ottawa conference, Foreign Minister David Levy declared that “we have difficulty implementing the initiative because of our own problems along our borders.”[6]

In March 1995, Israel acceded to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) by ratifying both Protocol 1 (non-detectable fragments) and Protocol 2 (on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps, and Other Devices).[7] In addition, Israel actively participated in the review conference of the Convention in September 1995 that amended Protocol 2; and subsequently endorsed the new Protocol 4 on blinding laser weapons.

On August 24, 2000, the Israeli government ratified the amended Protocol 2 (and 4) of the CCW.[8] Protocol 2 of the CCW details the prohibitions and limitations of AP and AT ground (laid) mines, as well as mines dispersed by air and artillery units. Prior to ratification, Israel implemented the provisions of the amended Protocol 2 on a de-facto basis, particularly in the area of mandatory marking and fencing of landmines.[9]

In 1999 Israel participated as an observer in the first conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition on the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction, held in Maputu, Mozambique, in May 1999. The Israeli delegation stated that: “The State of Israel supports the ultimate goal of this convention, aimed at reducing the indiscriminate use of anti-personnel landmines. At the same time, it is actively seeking to forge a new reality with its neighbors, that would render the need for such devices, and the pain and suffering they cause, obsolete.”[10] Similarly, the Israeli delegate to the Conference on Disarmament participated as an observer in the Second Meeting of States parties that took place in Geneva in September 2000.

The Israeli government is actively implementing the concepts set forth in the (above) declaratory statements. Between March and September 1998, the State Comptroller's Office conducted an audit of the Israel Defense Forces policies on mine laying, and in 1999, this office issued a detailed report (partly public and partly classified) on this issue. The principal subjects examined included: logistical aspects (actual inventory levels compared to goals and standards); mine field maintenance procedures; scope of deployment of mined areas and areas suspected of being mined throughout Israel and the consequences of such areas; policy concerning mine fields for which thereis no longer a security related need; and procedures for clearing mine fields and areas suspected of being mined upon request by the civilian sector.

This study covered the Israel Defense Forces - Division of Planning, Division of Operations, and Division of Technology and Logistics of the Israel Defense Forces General Staff; Israel Defense Forces Ground Forces Headquarters; Israel Air Force Headquarters; Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Corps Headquarters; Judge Advocate's Corps Headquarters; the three Regional Commands; and in the Ministry of Defense - Division of Finances, Equipment and Property; Procurement and Production Administration; and the Research, Weapons Development, and Technical Infrastructure Administration.

The Comptroller’s report examined the management of various mine issues by the Israeli Defense Forces, and, inter alia, examined the degree to which the provisions of Protocol 2 of the CCW are being implemented. Following thorough research, the Comptrollers report recommended several operational, doctrinal, and logistical procedural adjustments.[11] These recommendations are in the process of being examined by the IDF.

It must be noted that Israel’s State Comptroller’s Report, with its detailed and transparent analysis of landmine policies,[12] sets an important example—for even some of the most active states participating in the global effort to ban landmines.

Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling

Israel stopped producing landmines in the late 1980s, and in 1997, officially declared that it “does not produce APLs (antipersonnel landmines).”[13] At a subsequent UN General Assembly meeting on landmines on October 20, 1998, the Israeli representative repeated that production of antipersonnel landmines had ceased.[14]

Israelis, at both the official and unofficial level, are very aware of the acute humanitarian problem caused by anti-personnel landmines (APL’s) in developing countries.[15] Therefore, Israeli policy is committed to halting irresponsible and indiscriminate use of APL’s.[16] Indeed, in 1994, Israel instituted a three-year unilateral moratorium[17] on the export of antipersonnel landmines. The moratorium was renewed for three years in 1996, and was renewed in 1999, (with the eventual objective of an indefinite extension).[18]

According to various reports, Israel was, in the past, a significant producer and exporter of antipersonnel landmines. These reports note that Israel produced the M12A1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, and No. 6 (a copy of the U.S. Claymore) antipersonnel mines.[19]

Landmine manufacturers have included Israeli Military Industries, (IMI), based in Ramat Hasharon, and Tel Aviv-based Explosive Industries Ltd. (EIL). Nations listed in the trade press as acquiring IMI mines include Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nigeria and Zaire.[20] EIL”s No. 4 plastic antipersonnel mine was found by British deminers in the Falklands/Malvinas.[21]

Israel has also reportedly imported 1.9 million antitank mines from the United States.[22]

It is generally assumedthat Israel maintains a supply of antipersonnel mines. Specific details, such as the size and composition of the arsenal are currently unavailable.

Use

Israel’s Lilliputian breadth and width, coupled with potentially “hot” borders and a limited area of maneuverability for infantry and armored units, has prompted Israel to make extensive use of mines in combat and border defense.[23] The U.S. State Department has estimated that there are 260,000 mines in Israel[24], mostly along the borders with Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and territories captured in the 1967 war, (i.e., West Bank[25], Gaza Strip[26], and the Golan Heights.) In addition, there are a significant number of mines scattered throughout the Golan Heights and the Jordan Park area that were planted by Jordanian and Syrian forces, respectively.[27]

Mine Clearance in Israel and Neighboring Areas

In Israel:

As is noted above, Israel is currently implementing the recommendations of the State Comptrollers Report, which advocates the clearing of unnecessary minefields.[28] In December 1997, the Israeli Ministry of Defense informed the Engineering Unit (in) Central Command Headquarters that: "Maintaining the status quo [of unnecessary mine fields] is not acceptable to the defense establishment.“[29] The MOD (Ministry of Defense) went on to say that: “We would like to find a solution which will lead to the evacuation of the area[s] suspected of being mined and will provide a possibility for complete working of the land…."[30]

Land mine clearance is proceeding, albeit carefully, due to the high risk involved in clearance operations.[31] On January 1999, the division of Finances, Equipment and Property in the Israeli Ministry of Defense stated that it was examining the possibility of Israeli Defense Forces evacuating unnecessary mine strips, as well as adjacent areas suspected of being mined.[32] The Ministry of Defense also raised the possibility of using civilian contracting companies to clear suspected areas.[33] To advance the process, the State Comptroller recommended the appointment of an inter-ministerial committee to examine all aspects of the subject, and to guide government policy.[34]

Lebanon:

From the mid-1970s until 2000, Lebanon was a source of conflict and frequent cross-border attacks. In order to insure the safety of civilians (and soldiers) along Israel’s northern border, the IDF was prompted to make use of landmines. However, the extent of Israel’s landmine use in Lebanon is unclear, although there are numerous reports of extensive mine use in this area. (Many of the press reports originating in Lebanon regarding Israeli policy regarding the use of mines and APWs, including a number citing unnamed United Nations personnel, have been found to be unsubstantiated, and designed primarily for propaganda purposes.)[35]

In addition to mines planted by Israeli forces in South Lebanon to protect Israeli installations, non-state actors, such as the Hizbollah (supplied and supported by Syria and Iran), and the SLA (supported and supplied by Israel) are suspected of having using mines in the area.

In May 2000, Israel fulfilled UN resolution 425[36] by withdrawing from the security zone in south Lebanon. Following the redeployment along the international border, Israel gave the UN detailed maps delineating the Israeli planted minefields in south Lebanon, enabling UNIFIL forces to safely remove them.[37] Swedish mine-clearing teams in Lebanon (working after the withdrawal) have reported that these maps are accurate, and that they have “full cooperation” from the Israel Defense Force liaison.[38]

However, due to the refusal of the Lebanese government (which is controlled by Syria—who maintains 35,000 troops in Lebanon and controls Beirut’s foreign policy), to open any channels of communication with Israel, it has not yet been possible to develop a coordinated demining program on a bilateral basis. Clearly, the political barriers created by Damascus have exacerbated the dangers posed by mines in the area.

Jordan:

From the 1940s, the long border between Israel and Jordan was used as an area of infiltration and direct military conflict. Consequently, many minefields were laid along both sides of the Jordanian-Israeli border.

However, after the expulsion of Palestinian military groups from Jordan following the coup attempt in September 1970, and more recently after the 1991 Gulf War, threats to Israel from the border area have decreased. In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, and in 1997, the two countries carried out a combined project of clearing minefields along their shared border. Israel also handed over maps of Israeli planted mines, and suspected mined areas to the Jordanian authorities.

Israel is currently involved in a multilateral humanitarian[39] landmine-clearing project with Jordan, and has offered the Jordanian engineering corps additional mine-clearing equipment and safety gears.[40] In addition, Israel has offered to fund a mine victims rehabilitation program, and is willing to provide technical training assistance for its medical staff.[41]

Israel has also treated Jordanian victims of Jordanian landmines.[42] To date, four victims, three adults and a child, have undergone extensive treatment and rehabilitation at Israel’s Beit Loewenstein and Schneider’s Children’s Hospital.[43]

Egypt:

Israel occupied The Sinai Peninsula in 1967, and returned it to Egypt following the 1979 Peace Treaty, which also established demilitarized zones. In the context of the Treaty and the accompanying military annexes, Israel provided Egypt with maps of the minefields that it had placed in the Sinai area; and, prior to withdrawing, demined considerable areas of the Peninsula.

Mine Clearance: Israeli Assistance and Expertise Abroad

As the following list of indigenously developed mine-clearing equipment suggests, Israel’s demining capabilities are quite significant. Israel has marketed[44]:

· anti-personnel mine safety shoes

· lightweight in-stride mine extractor for surface munitions clearance

· a teleoperation kit which can convert a vehicle into a remotely controlled unit

· a track-width mine plow; an on board anti-magnetic mine actuating device

· a rear-engine four wheeled all terrain vehicle with outstanding mobility

· ground penetrating radar

· a twin roller bank system coupled to a heavy-tracked tractor

In addition, Israel’s Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) is in the process of developing[45]:

· a tree and shrub clearing shredder, mounted on a remote operated and manipulated swinging designed to handle tripwires and medium sized vegetation in minefield areas; it can also reach river banks, cliffs, slopes and narrow spaces

· a mini-flail, mounted on the swinging arm for clearing APL’s in difficult to reach areas; lightweight flail, for clearing APL’s mounted on a small remote operated tractor

· self-powered heavyflail, for clearing AT’s and APL’s, pushed by a tractor or remotely operated

· a standard deep-rooter, operated by a tractor for deep tillage as part of preparing the soil for safe agricultural use; soil combine-sifter-crusher to clear and crush buried mines in agricultural fields

· a towed raft-trailer for transport of equipment everywhere on land and water with no need for bridges.

Unfortunately, as the above list illustrates, Israel has considerable expertise in de-mining. Israel is acutely aware of the humanitarian problem caused by APL’s, and offers assistance to mine-affected countries in the following areas: mine surveys, mine awareness activities, transfer of mine clearance equipment, cooperation in medical and social rehabilitation, and contributing to the Database of Technological Information.[46] Israel has also contributed to the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance, and has held and hosted an international workshop on the rehabilitation of mine victims.[47]

Since 1996, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been engaged in mine clearance and mine awareness operations in Angola.[48] In addition, a comprehensive Israeli NGO, Aid Without Borders, conducts mine awareness programs in Angola under the auspices of UNICEF.[49] Aid Without Borders has been active in Kosovo as well, where it taught mine awareness to children in conjunction with MAG, a British mine awareness organization.[50]

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also operates a joint landmine assistance program with Canada in Guatemala.[51] Canada’s sphere of responsibility in the program includes both physical and psychological rehabilitation, while Israel is involved with the economic rehabilitation of mine victims.[52] This economic rehabilitation consists of encouraging and teaching landmine survivors to establish and successfully run independent micro-enterprises or other small businesses.[53]

Mined Areas

Israeli policy stipulates that minefields must be clearly marked on maps and fenced off—and entry is strictly forbidden. In July 1998, the Israel Defense Forces Department of Field Security considered the issue of unmarked mines, concluding that “regarding mine fields [that] constitute part of an obstacle laid by our forces on the front lines... there is no possibility of marking them on civilian maps. Regarding mine fields that were laid by enemy forces... there is no impediment to marking them on the maps. Regarding minefields located in the vicinity of sensitive sites, such as electrical power stations, water pumps and the like - there is no impediment to marking them on the maps.”[54]

Landmine Civilian Awareness

Unfortunately, weapons and explosives are part of daily life in Israel. Israeli citizens, in general, accept and support policies that are perceived as necessary in response to a hostile environment, the threat of terrorism, and the long history of military attack.[55] During special terrorism awareness sessions, Israeli school children are also shown detailed pictorial images of various landmines and are taught to avoid them.[56] In addition, all military graduates in Israel possess considerable awareness of mines as a result of their army service.[57]

Civilian Landmine Casualties/Survivor Assistance[58]

Civilians have fallen casualty to undeclared and declared landmines in the Golan Heights, West Bank, and other areas.[59] Israel’s comprehensive Bituach Leumi, or National Insurance Service, completely covers the cost of treatment for victims of landmines.

Those who have suffered from injuries caused by landmines, (whether citizens, tourists, students, or anyone who has entered the country legally[60]) are included in the Health Services clause of “Victims of Hostile Activities” regulation, and as such, are given extensive treatment. This treatment includes an initial evaluation, subsequent operations, and extensive orthopedic rehabilitation. Patients are provided with psychological therapy and counseling, as well as occupational, speech, and physical therapy. They also receive an appropriate prosthetic device, or devices.

As a result of his or her traumatic experience, the landmine victim might experience a variety of difficulties, including stress, anxiety, and behavioral and emotional problems. Therefore, before, during, and after rehabilitation, the patient interacts with a well trained, professional staff of: Doctors, nurses, orthopedic specialists, physical, speech, and occupational therapists, social workers, and clinical and neuro-psychologists.

Israel also provides extensive vocational training and outpatient treatment. The Ministry of Work and Social Welfare, the National Health Insurance Institute, and the General Sick Fund (Israel’s largest HMO) jointly run vocational schools for landmine survivors. After an initial assessment by the vocational school, the patient selects a course of interest, and upon successful completion of a final exam, receives a professional degree. Israel’s comprehensive rehabilitative vocational facilities enable the landmine victim to return to the workplace—providing him or her with a sense of success and inclusion in society.

Additional benefits to landmine survivors include a monthly pension, and the ability to purchase a car without tax. If the patient is unable or does not wish to drive, a transportation stipend can be provided. Israel also has parking spaces reserved for handicapped people, and most new buildings have elevators and ramps for handicapped and disabled people. In addition, Israel’s High Court of Justice recently ruled that the Ministry of Transportation and the nation’s public transportation providers are required to accommodate disabled commuters.[61]

Medical centers that are involved in the treatment of civilian landmine victims and survivors are: Beit Loewenstein in Rannana, Tel Hashomer in Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Tel Aviv University Medical Center, and Schneider’s Children’s Hospital in Petach Tikvah.

Military Landmine Casualties/Survivor Assistance

Soldiers wounded by landmines are provided with the same comprehensive rehabilitative treatment as civilians, (details listed above) with two exceptions.[62] Injured soldiers receive treatment from army medical teams instead of civilian doctors—and receive a higher monthly pension.

Landmine Casualty Statistics

A detailed statistical record of landmine casualties is currently unavailable, as victims of landmines are treated under the general category of “Victims of Hostile Activities.” Therefore, there is no specific statistical category reserved for landmine casualties. However, the 1999 Israel State Comptroller’s Report noted that “between January 1997 and May 1998, nine cases of mine explosions occurred as the result of malfunctions caused by failure to obey or to comply with rules…[Consequently,] there was one death and seven injuries.”[63]

Although official detailed statistics on mine incidents are sparse, the Israeli media occasionally reports on mine casualties suffered by soldiers. For example, on June 5, 2000, the media reported that an Israeli soldier was severely wounded while clearing minefields along the Israeli-Lebanese border.[64]

[1] As well as anti-personal weapons.

[2] Russia and the U.S. have reservations about the Ottawa Convention in terms of both substance and process. The U.S. has stated that without landmines it cannot adequately protect and defend its troops stationed in Korea. However, the U.S. has declared that it will sign the Convention in 2006 if an effective alternative to landmines can be found by then. (Aluf Benn, “Israel joins int’l convention limiting landmines,” Ha’aretz, 4 October 2000.) The Russian military still perceives antipersonnel mines as a necessary weapon, as is evidenced by extensive use in Dagestan and Chechnya.

(Human Right Watch : Landmine Monitor Report 2000.)

[3] Ambassador David Sultan's Address to the Plenary Session of the Landmine Conference, Ottawa, Canada, 4 December 1997.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Israel also abstained from the 1996 and 1997 UN General AssemblyResolution that urged States to pursue an international agreement to ban antipersonnel landmines. The 1998 Resolution urged states to accede to the landmine convention. Israel abstained from this as well.

[6] "Israel to Attend Landmine Conference in Ottawa," Reuters, 11 November 1997.

[7] From the State Comptroller's Report No. 50 A, for the Year 1999, “Mine Laying in the Israel Defense Forces,” (Published in Hebrew and translated unofficially) Israel government printing office, Jerusalem.

[8] ”Israel Ratifies Two Protocols of the Convention On Conventional Weapons,” (Communicated by the [Israeli] Foreign Ministry Spokesman) Jerusalem, 24 August 2000.

[9] From an Israel Defense Forces General Staff Order concerning "Laying and Removal of Mines,” which states, inter alia, that any minefield and any area which is mined or suspected of being mined shall be fenced off and posted with warning signs. The IDF checks the fencing and sign posting of the mine fields and the areas suspected of being mined at least once a year. An order issued by the Israel Defense Forces Engineering Corps Headquarters requires the performance of external inspection for the completeness and good order of the fencing and posted signs, once every six months, for certain types of mine fields. (From the State Comptroller's Report No. 50 A, for the Year 1999, “Mine Laying in the Israel Defense Forces, (Published in Hebrew and translated unofficially) Israel Government Printing Office, Jerusalem)

[10] Statement by the Israeli delegation at the Maputu Conference on the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction. Maputu, Mozambique, 3 May 1999.

[11] From the State Comptroller's Report No. 50 A, for the Year 1999, “MineLaying in the Israel Defense Forces,” (Published in Hebrew and translated unofficially) Israel government printing office, Jerusalem.

[12] The State Comptrollers Report also includes documentation of significant deficiencies in the policy and implementation of land mine issues in Israel.

[13]Statement of the Israel Delegation, Ottawa Forum for Mine Action, December 1997, document 1.12.97/17119.

[14] United Nations General Assembly Press Release GA/DIS/3115, 20 October 1998.

[15] Statement of the Israel Delegation, Ottawa Forum for Mine Action, December 1997, document 1.12.97/17119.

[16] Statement of the Israel Delegation, Ottawa Forum for Mine Action, December 1997, document 1.12.97/17119.

[17] Statement by the Israeli delegation at the Maputu Conference on the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction. Maputu, Mozambique, 3 May, 1999.

[18] Statement by the Israeli delegation at the Maputu Conference on the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction. Maputu, Mozambique, 3 May, 1999.

[19] U.S. Department of Defense Mine Facts database.

[20] Cited in Human Rights Watch Arms Project/Physicians for Human Rights, Landmines: A Deadly Legacy (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1993), p. 94.

[21] Defense News, 26 January 1987.

[22] U.S. Army Armament, Munitions and Chemical Command data, analyzed by Human Rights Watch Arms Division.

[23] Israel has previously stated that its use of antipersonnel landmines for self-defense purposes is in accordance with requirements of the CCW. (Statement by H.E. Mr. Eytan Bentsur, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, 4 September 1997.)

[24] U.S. Department of State, “Hidden Killers,” September 1998, p. A-1.

[25] The area known as the West Bank, (Judea and Samaria in official Israeli documents and maps), was included in the British Mandate until 1948, was captured by Jordan during the 1948 war, and taken by Israel in 1967. Between 1948 and 1967, it was often the site of violent clashes between guerrilla groups and the Israeli military. In 1994, following the 1993 Declaration of Principles (the “Oslo Agreement”) and subsequent interim arrangements, Israel transferred portions of this area to the control of the Palestinian Authority. The boundaries and other aspects are the subject of permanent status negotiations, as agreed in the DOP.

[26] The Gaza Strip was under Egyptian control from 1948 and 1967, and was also the site of violent clashes between guerrilla groups and the Israeli military. In 1967, it was occupied by Israel, and in 1994, most of this territory was transferred to the Palestinian Authority, under the terms of the agreement between Israel and the PLO.

[27] From the State Comptroller's Report No. 50 A, for the Year 1999, “Mine Laying in the Israel Defense Forces,” (Published in Hebrew and translated unofficially) Israel government printing office, Jerusalem.

[28] Ibid.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Ibid.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Ibid.

[34] Ibid.

[35] Reports published by the AFP (Agence France Presse) have been particularly unreliable in this regard, as demonstrated by Caryn Farber, “False Witness: Toys aren't us,” AIJAC Review (Melbourne, Australia), 25 July - 7 August 1997.

[36] Statement by Foreign Minister David Levy, 23 May 2000. <http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0hd00>.

[37] Israel Transfers S. Lebanon Security Zone Minefield Maps To UNIFIL," (Communicated by the Defense Minister's Media Adviser), Jerusalem, 31 May 2000.

[38] Private communication from Swedish diplomat at the SMSP, Geneva September 2000.

[39] Humanitarian landmine has an assumed clearance rating of 99%, whereas military clearance suffices with a significantly lower rate.

[40] Interview with unnamed government official, June 2000.

[41] Ibid.

[42] Interview with Professor Haim Ring, Deputy Director of Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center, Beit Loewenstein Hospital, Rannana, 24 May 2000.

[43] Interview with Professor Haim Ring, Deputy Director of Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center, Beit Loewenstein Hospital, Rannana, 24 May 2000.

[44] Most of the equipment was evaluated or used by the IDF, US Army during “Desert Storm” and by the Canadian and Swedish armies. Stated by the Israel Delegation, Israeli Capabilities in Demining and Rehabilitation of Victims, Ottawa Forum for Mine Action, December 1997.

[45] Israel Delegation, Israeli Capabilities in Demining and Rehabilitation of Victims, OttawaForum for Mine Action, December 1997.

[46] Statement of the Israel Delegation, Ottawa Forum for Mine Action, December 1997, document 1.12.97/17119.

[47] Statement by the Israeli delegation at the 1999 Maputu Conference. See also:

<http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/vtf.htm>.

[48] Both independently, and through UNICEF. Statement by H.E. Mr. Eytan Bentsur, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, 4 September 1997.

[49] Indeed, Mr. Hanoch Bar-Levi, an Israeli volunteer from Aid Without Borders is now the coordinator of the UNICEF landmine awareness program for Angola. Interview with Erez T. Yanuv, Founder of Aid Without Borders, Jerusalem, May 2000.

[50] Interview with Erez T. Yanuv, Founder of Aid Without Borders, Jerusalem, 1 June 2000.

[51] Interview with Benny Abileah, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, 1 June 2000.

[52] Ibid.

[53] Ibid.

[54] Currently, this is only accepted in “principle.” From the State Comptroller's Report No. 50 A, for the Year 1999, “Mine Laying in the Israel Defense Forces.”

[55] Asher Arian, “Israeli Public Opinion on National Security 1998”,Memorandum No. 49, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, July 1998.

[56] Interview with Professor Haim Ring, Deputy Director of Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center, Beit Loewenstein Hospital, Rannana, 24 May 2000.

[57] Interview with unnamed government official, 21 May 2000.

[58] Interview with Professor Haim Ring, Deputy Director of Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center, Beit Loewenstein Hospital, Rannana, 24 May 2000.

[59] Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, U.S. Department of State, 1994; and the State Comptroller's Report No. 50 A, for the Year 1999, “Mine Laying in the Israel Defense Forces,” (Published in Hebrew and translated unofficially) Israel government printing office, Jerusalem.

[60] Bituach Leumi Website, <http://www.btl.gov.il/English/eindex.asp>.

[61] "Buses must accommodate the disabled," IsraelWire, 18 September 2000.

[62] “Department of Rehabilitation,” State of Israel Ministry of Defense official Publication, Tel Aviv, April 1996.

[63] From the State Comptroller's Report No. 50 A, for the Year 1999, “Mine Laying in the Israel Defense Forces,” (Published in Hebrew and translated unofficially) Israel government printing office, Jerusalem.

[64] David Rudge, “Soldier wounded in mine-clearing accident,” Jerusalem Post, 6 June 2000.