Israeli arms are being sent to a heavily armed neo-Nazi militia in Ukraine, The Electronic Intifada has learned.
Azov Battalion online propaganda shows Israeli-licensed Tavor rifles in the fascist groups hands, while Israeli human rights activists have protested arms sales to Ukraine on the basis that weapons might end up with anti-Semitic militias.
In a letter about licenses for Ukraine obtained by The Electronic Intifada, the Israeli defense ministrys arms export agency says they are careful to grant licenses to arms exporters in full coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government entities.
The 26 June letter was sent in reply to Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack who had written a detailed request demanding Israel end all military aid to the country.
Azovs official status in the Ukrainian armed forces means it cannot be verified that Israeli weapons and training are not being used by anti-Semitic or neo-Nazi soldiers, Mack and 35 other human rights activists wrote.
They had written that Ukrainian armed forces use rifles made in Israel and are trained by Israelis, according to reports in the country.
The head of the Israeli arms export agency declined to deny the reports, or to even discuss cancellation of the weapons licenses, citing security concerns. ... A photo on Azovs website also shows a Tavor in the hands of one of the militias officers.
The rifles are produced under licence from Israel Weapon Industries, and as such would have been authorized by the Israeli government.
IWI markets the Tavor as the primary weapon of the Israeli special forces.
It has been used in recent massacres of unarmed Palestinians taking part in Great March of Return protests in Gaza.
Fort, the Ukrainian state-owned arms company that produces the rifles under license, has a page about the Tavor on its website.
The Israel Weapon Industries logo also appears on its website, including on the Our Partners page.
Starting as a gang of fascist street thugs, the Azov Battalion is one of several far-right militias that have now been integrated as units of Ukraines National Guard.
Staunchly anti-Russian, Azov fought riot police during the 2013 US and EU-supported Euromaidan protests in the capital Kiev.
The protests and riots laid the ground for the 2014 coup which removed the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych.
When the civil war began in eastern Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists, the new western-backed government began to arm Azov. The militia soon fell under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian interior ministry, and saw some of the most intense frontline combat against the separatists.
The group stands accused in United Nations and Human Rights Watch reports of committing war crimes against pro-Russian separatists during the ongoing civil war in the eastern Donbass region, including torture, sexual violence and targeting of civilian homes.
Today, Azov is run by Arsen Avakov, Ukraines interior minister. According to the BBC, he pays its fighters, and has appointed one of its military commanders, Vadym Troyan, as his deputy with control over the police.
Avakov last year met with the Israeli interior minister Aryeh Deri to discuss fruitful cooperation.
Azovs young founder and first military commander Andriy Biletsky is today a lawmaker in the Ukrainian parliament.
As journalist Max Blumenthal explained on The Real News in February, Biletsky has pledged to restore the honor of the white race and has advanced laws forbidding race mixing.