Education in fighting terrorism goes to the source

Published 23 January 2006

Dean Acheson, Harry Truman’s secretary of state in the late 1940s and early 1950s, called his autobiography Present at the Creation. Israel was present at the creation of the war on terrorism. Israel has been fighting terrorism since its inception in 1948, so it is only reasonable that those in government and the private sector in other parts of the world where the war on terror is a more recent phenomenon would want to go the source and see how things are done there. Globes report that dozens of representatives of companies and government agencies from ten countries, including the FBI, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), will arrive in Israel on 18 February for a behind-the-scenes look at the country’s battle with terrorism. The visitors will meet representatives of key security agencies and companies central to Israel’s war on terror.

The two companies organizing the tour are Canoga Park, California-based Chameleon Associates, a U.S. firm offering information, consulting, and courses on terrorism and how to combat it, which is headed by two Israelis, Amotz Brandes and Muky Cohen; and Tel Aviv, Israel-based Shafran Security Consulting and Management. The Israel Export Institute and the Israeli commercial attached in Los Angeles were also involved in organizing the tour. Among the participants are representatives from the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Australia, Singapore, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Greece, and South Africa. Among the organizations and companies taking part are the FBI, Microsoft, Oracle, the Singapore Internal Security Department, the vice president of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit System, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Australian Parliament, management consultants Booze Allen Hamilton, the CEO of Mall of America, the force commander of the Bloomington Police, and the Association of Chief Police Officers Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee (ACPO-TAM).

Eight Israeli homeland security companies will make presentations to the delegation: Audi application company Verint Systems (Nasdaq: VRNT); video application company NICE-Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE); perimeter defense and fencing company Magal Security Systems(Nasdaq: MAGS; TASE: MAGS); technology integration company Orad Hi-Tec Systems (AIM; XETRA: OHT); body armor and protective gear company Rabintex Industries (TASE: RABN); shoe X-ray specialist Ido 2000; and armor and protective security solutions developer Team 3 Cleaning & General Services 1992.

-read more in Ran Dagoni’s Globes report; and see tour details at Chameleon Web site