VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #0827/01 1000828
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 100828Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1361
INFO RUETIAA/DIRNSA FORT GEORGE G MEADE MD PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNFB/FBI WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000827 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC KOMC IS
SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3 PRE-LICENSE 
END-USE CHECK ON LICENSE 050143937 
 
REF: A. 07 TEL AVIV 225 
     ¶B. STATE 21769 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary:  While Mitvach Ha'ir, Ltd., continues to 
possess a chaotic filing system and questionable security 
practices, the subject purchase order with Lou's Police 
Distributors appears to be legitimate.  That said, Mitvach 
Ha'ir manager Avi Rubin was unable to provide a DSP-83 for 
the license application.  Polmiloff and Foreign Commercial 
Service (FCS) senior commercial specialist visited Mitvach 
Ha'ir, Ltd., on March 31.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Per reftels, polmiloff and senior commercial 
specialist met with Avi Rubin, owner of Mitvach Ha'ir, Ltd., 
on March 31.  Mitvach Ha'ir is a weapon and ammunition store 
located in the basement of an office building two floors down 
from street-level in Netanya, approximately 20 minutes north 
of Tel Aviv.  In addition to selling guns to the general 
public, Mitvach Ha'ir also has a shooting range on-site, 
where emboffs observed several Israeli Defense Force (IDF) 
soldiers in uniform training. 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to Rubin, he has been "doing business" 
with Lou's Police Distributors for approximately eight years, 
purchasing for re-sale items such as flashlights, boots, and 
gun holsters.  Rubin said he had also ordered Remington 
shotguns and spare parts for Glock pistols from Lou's Police 
Distributors in the past.  Rubin said he ordered these Glock 
semi-automatic pistols from Lou's Police Distributors for 
several reasons.  First, Glock will not export directly to 
Israel, even though there is a Glock representative located 
in-country.  For that reason, Rubin said he must order 
through a third country.  Second, Rubin said the Glocks he 
ordered from Lou's Police Distributors are "second hand," and 
therefore much cheaper.  Finally, he explained that the M-26 
model of the Glock semi-automatic pistol is very popular in 
Israel -- as many purchasers prefer the small size to conceal 
in ankle holsters -- and Lou's Police Distributors have a 
number of these M-26s.  Rubin said he intended to re-sell the 
Glocks from Lou's Police Distributors to the Israeli public. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Emboffs asked Rubin to provide documentation to 
establish the bona fides of the transaction with Lou's Police 
Distributors.  Following ten minutes of rifling through 
stacks of paper on his desk, Rubin requested his brother Didi 
to bring a three-ring binder from a separate location with 
the appropriate paperwork.  Rubin was then able to provide 
the purchase order and import license letter.  When asked 
about the DSP-83, Rubin became confused.  Initially, he said 
he signed the DSP-83 during a business trip to the United 
States, but did not possess a copy of the form.  Later, he 
explained that a DSP-83 was not necessary, as these Glocks 
were intended for the "civilian market," and not the Israeli 
military.  However, Rubin was keen to demonstrate that he 
indeed possessed DSP-83s for other purchase orders, and 
proceeded to look through the accumulated paper on his desk 
for another 15 minutes, ultimately failing to provide a 
single DSP-83 for any purchase order.  He explained that he 
has a second office located at his home; the DSP-83s "must 
be" at his second office. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Emboffs asked Rubin to demonstrate his facility's 
security features.  Rubin gave a tour of his large walk-in 
vault where he stored weapons, ammunition and equipment for 
sale.  Rubin claimed the items in the vault were inventoried, 
but emboffs could not discern any system to the large number 
of weapons lying about the store room, including a bazooka 
and an antique Thompson submachine gun, which Rubin estimated 
at USD 25,000.  Emboffs observed guns and ammunition under 
locked counters in the reception area and waiting area for 
the shooting range.  However, in the safe and Rubin's office, 
emboffs observed a number of guns and other weapons lying 
unsecured on desk and table tops.  The facility does possess 
a closed-circuit video surveillance system. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Despite his disorganized filing system and 
questionable security practices, Rubin was nevertheless 
concerned that "all was in order" regarding his purchase 
order.  He asked why he specifically had been singled out -- 
"not that it was a problem," he added.  Rubin remained 
curious why many of his arms merchant colleagues do not face 
the similar scrutiny he has experienced.  He also briefly 
mentioned the training Mitvach Ha'ir, Ltd., provides for 
African special forces.  He declined to go into specifics, 
but stressed that the Glocks from the purchase order would 
 
not be used during this training. 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
********************************************* ******************** 
CUNNINGHAM