VZCZCXYZ0022
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #0729/01 0861347
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271347Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1189
INFO RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR PRIORITY 0044
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUETIAA/DIRNSA FORT GEORGE G MEADE MD PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000729 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC KOMCSG IS
SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3 POST-SHIPMENT 
CHECK ON LICENSE 994633 
 
REF: STATE 17025 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Per reftel, polmiloff and Foreign 
Commercial Service (FCS) senior commercial specialist visited 
A.D. Consultants, Ltd, on March 18 at its offices in Nes 
Ziona, a small city approximately 15 miles south of Tel Aviv. 
 A.D Consultants President and CEO Gaby Peretz, his deputy 
General Manager Max Abitbul, and Peretz's son Ori -- a 
project manager for A.D. Consultants -- briefed on the 
company's background and business activities.  Kobi Fogler 
from the Directorate of Security Defense Establishment 
(MALMAB) attended on behalf of the Israeli MOD.  Peretz was 
relatively open regarding his company's business practices in 
Africa, and possessed proper supporting documentation for 
what appears to be a legitimate transaction with the 
Senegalese Air Force.  Additional background on A.D. 
Consultants via FCS records is included in para 8.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Peretz began with a PowerPoint presentation 
regarding A.D. Consultants (AD Con), which he owns and 
founded in 1987.  He said his family owns 14 different 
companies located in Israel, France, Belgium, and Cyprus. 
According to Peretz, AD Con specializes in consulting, 
marketing supply, delivery, installation, training and 
after-sales service in the military, communications, 
computerization, and energy fields.  He stated that AD Con 
deals in military and security equipment under special 
authorization from the Defense Export Control Directorate 
(API) of the Israeli MOD and the U.S. Directorate of Defense 
Trade Controls (Registrant Code K-2024).  Peretz claimed AD 
Con is the "exclusive worldwide agent" of several military 
and security equipment suppliers, dealing with large 
government and privately-owned companies thoughout the 
world, including Bulgaria, Indonesia Romania, Russia, 
Serbia, and Ukraine.  Peretz nted that AD Con procures "very 
little" in the Unied States, primarily due to cost.  He said 
most rocurement is made through suppliers in Eastern Euope, 
where the prices are cheaper. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Pretz listed Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, theRepublic of Central Africa, Chad, Gabon, Niger, Nigria, 
Rwanda, and Senegal as his African clients.  He added these 
countries were not corrupt, and therefore the only ones with 
which he would do business.  Asked for an example of how his 
business works, Peretz explained that he recently supplied 
Burkina Faso with mobile multi-launch rocket vehicles, in 
which the vehicles were procured in Russia, the rockets and 
launchers from Romania, and the communications equipment from 
the Czech Republic. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Turning to reftel transaction with the Senegalese 
Air Force, Peretz stated that AD Con operated on behalf of 
Senegal.  He noted that AD Con has participated in all of the 
API's mandated technology transfer conferences, and has 
appointed a compliance officer to ensure AD Con conforms to 
necessary technology transfer regulations.  While a brokering 
law is not yet in force in Israel, Peretz stated that AD Con 
registered as brokers and applied for a brokering license in 
order to conform with U.S. laws.  He added that AD Con has 
appointed an ITAR expert (Karl W. Abendschein, 1101 
Seventeenth Street, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, D.C., 
20036-4798; tel: 202-293-5555) from Berliner, Corcoran & 
Rowe, L.L.P., to represent AD Con on these matters. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Peretz explained that AD Con procured for Senegal 
three AN/ARC 182 (v) Radio sets from Columbia Electronics 
International, Inc., in February 2006.  The radio sets were 
shipped to Senegal in June 2006.  Peretz possessed the 
purchase order, the invoice, the DSP 83 approved by the 
Senegalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the export license 
with an attached letter from the Directorate of Defense Trade 
Controls containing limitations and provisos, and the air 
waybill.  Peretz also displayed digital photos of the 
equipment installed on helicopters; he noted that the 
Senegalese installed the equipment.  He reported that one of 
the sets of radio equipment had malfunctioned, and that AD 
Con planned to return the set to Columbia Electronics, but 
that it was "not a priority." 
 
¶6. (SBU) When asked regarding AD Con's secure facilities and 
security procedures for handling sensitive USML items, Peretz 
stressed that AD Con at no point took possession of the U.S. 
equipment.  Rather, a local AD Con representative accompanied 
a representative of the Senegalese Air Force to the airport 
 
upon arrival of the shipment -- the Senegalese Air Force 
representative took direct possession of the shipment, Peretz 
said; AD Con acted only as an intermediary. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Peretz was well aware of restrictions related to 
USML items, including the prohibition of unauthorized 
re-transfers and re-exports.  He described the ITAR as 
"complicated, but necessary."  He cited two examples in which 
AD Con had been offered business but had declined due to 
concerns of violating U.S. export regulations.  The first 
example involved a request from Burkina Faso to procure U.S. 
communications gear and 105 recoilless rifles from Libya, 
which apparently had been supplied to Libya by the USG at 
some point when relations between the two countries were more 
amicable.  Peretz said he turned the offer down.  As a second 
example, he noted that he was "close friends" with Mohammed 
Nour Abdelkerim, the former Defense Minister of Chad. 
Despite the personal relationship, Peretz said AD Con has 
decided not to pursue business opportunities with Nour. 
 
¶8. (SBU) FSC - Tel Aviv has the following information for A.D 
Consultants, Ltd., on file following an industry visit by our 
Senior Commercial Specialist on behalf of Derco Aerospance, 
Inc., in November 2007: 
 
-- AD Con was established in 1987, and registered as a 
private limited company on August 2, 1987 under number 
51-121613-7.  All company shares are owned by Oforid 
Holdings; AD Con has approximately 40-50 employees. 
 
-- AD Con is a small service company involved in sales, 
project development and turnkey projects in approximately 15 
African countries.  The projects cover a range of products, 
ranging from real estate to power projects, and from military 
uniforms, arms, and electronic equipment to naval ships and 
helicopters.  AD Con is a family business, and does not 
represent any foreign firms. 
 
-- AD Con is wholly owned by Oforid Holdings, Ltd., which in 
turn is owned in equal shares by Gaby Peretz and his spouse 
Ahuva Peretz.  Gaby Peretz holds one hundred percent of the 
management shares of AD Con.  Oforid Holdings, Ltd., further 
owns one hundred percent of the shares of Oforid Investments, 
Ltd., established in 2003 to invest the family's profits from 
their business activities.  It also owns ninety percent of 
Galint, Ltd., a company established in 1998 to develop 
telecom-related projects.  In addition, Mr. Peretz operates 
two private companies in Belgium and France.  These companies 
are mainly involved in supplying equipment to African 
governments in the framework of offset procurements required 
by the French and Belgian governments in their foreign aid 
programs. 
 
--  AD Con's owner and CEO Gaby Peretz was born in Morocco, 
and came to Israel with his parents at the age of five.  In 
1987, after a 19-year military career in the Israeli Air 
Force (IAF), Mr. Peretz retired as a battalion commander with 
the rank of Lt. Colonel.  He established A.D. Consultants, 
Ltd., with the intention of representing foreign defense 
companies in Israel.  However, after he was introduced to 
Togo leadership through a chance meeting with the incoming 
Togo Ambassador to Israel, he realized the potential of 
business opportunities in Africa and began to focus his 
activities there.  AD Con gained the confidence of African 
leaders and began to specialize in project development. 
Peretz's ability to speak French contributed much to his 
activities in Francophone Africa.  Peretz is currently the 
Honorary Consul of Burundi in Israel.  In 2007, AD Con was 
active in Togo, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Sierra 
Leone, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Nigeria, Mauritania, the 
Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic 
Republic of Congo.  The company's activities are 
approximately 55 percent defense-related and 45 percent 
civilian. 
 
-- AD Con's government contacts -- as well as the leaders of 
African countries in which the company is active -- inform it 
about upcoming projects and business opportunities.  Thus, if 
a country desires to buy a certain defense system, AD Con 
will be invited to learn the details of the required system 
from the decision makers.  The company then hires the 
services of a consulting company to develop a technical and 
commercial proposal, and submits its proposal to the decision 
makers.  If the proposal is accepted -- and a contract is 
signed -- AD Con will then locate major defense manufacturers 
 
in Eastern Europe, Russia, or South Africa, and hire a 
subcontractor to manage the project.  In many cases, the 
contracts will be long-term and include training, 
maintenance, and support services. 
 
-- AD Con employs a staff of about ten people in Israel.  Mr. 
Max Abitboul, a former maintenance squadron commander at the 
IAF with 27 years of service in the Israel Defense Forces 
(IDF), joined AD Con in September 2004.  Abitboul is Peretz's 
deputy in the management of the company.  Another 30-40 
people are on AD Con's payroll in African countries for 
maintenance services.  The origin of the employees is 
dependent on the source of the equipment.  For example, if 
the equipment is Russian-made, the maintenance staff for the 
equipment will most likely be Russian. 
 
-- AD Con occupies 600 square-meter rented office space in a 
new commercial building located in Nes Ziona's Science Park. 
New Ziona is a small city 15 miles south of Tel Aviv.  The 
company moved to its current location in September 2007. 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
********************************************* ******************** 
CUNNINGHAM