Israel arming of Georgia sours Russian relations

Now that the fog of war in the turbulent Caucasus region is beginning to lift, the full extent of Israel's involvement in the affairs of Georgia, ­ whose 30-year-old defence minister, Davit Kezerashvili, is himself a Hebrew-speaking former Israeli, ­ is beginning to become clear.

As a result, there are serious implications for the future of Middle East geopolitics. There is a danger that Russia will lift any restraint on the sale of state-of-the-art S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria and Iran and play an even tougher part in sabotaging diplomatic efforts to halt Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons programme.

And for Tzipi Livni, or whoever emerges as the new Israeli prime minister to replace the disgraced Ehud Olmert, the issue of Israel's continued links with Georgia is one of the most sensitive on the political agenda.

The list of Israeli personnel involved in either supplying arms to Georgia or training elite Georgian military units (while at the same time trying to guarantee Israeli take-off rights from two south Georgian airfields - to be used in any attack against Iran's nuclear network) speaks volumes for the extent of Israeli involvement in a country to which it feels close psychological attachment.

Kezerashvili's ties to Israel (he made aliya with his grandmother and attended Kugel High School in the town of Holon, near Tel Aviv) have been well known since his father told the biggest-selling Tel Aviv daily, Yediot Ahronot, a year ago: "He has a lot of friends to this day in Israel, and he has maintained good relations with them."

More recently, his pro-Israeli sympathies have been fortified by President Mikhail Saakashvili's (left, with Ehud Olmert) typically over-the-top description of his country's role in the face of Russian aggression as the "Israel of the Caucasus", and backed up inside the Georgian government by his fellow cabinet member, Temur Yakobashvili, the