Arab Organisation for Human Rights in UK (AOHR) has revealed that an Israeli maritime security company (Seagull Maritime Security) has been operating in areas like the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
The AOHR reported that the company which was established in 2008 recruits its personnel from veterans of the Israel navy including Eli Marom, commander of the Israeli navy between 2007 and 2011. He orchestrated the attack against the Gaza Flotilla in May 2010 during which 9 Turkish nationals were killed and scores of international activists who were on their way to Gaza were injured or detained. Marom also took part in Operation Cast Lead against Gaza in December 2008. Former director of Israel’s secret service (the Shabak) from 1996-2000, Ami Ayalon, heads a team of consultants in addition to the CEO Kfir Magen (a former commanding officer in the Israeli army), Yaniv Perelshtain (head operations in the company), Yuval Brenner and others.
According to the AOHR, the company has five offices: its headquarters in Palestine and other offices in Malta, Cyprus, Greece and the Ukraine but the company also operates from several Arab countries through special licenses granted from the governments of the UAE (Al-Fujaira), Egypt (Suez Canal), several points in the Red Sea, Oman (Salala and Muscat) and Jordan (Aqaba). The company is one of very few whose security personnel are permitted to disembark fully armed on the Egyptian-administered Island of Tiran.
The AOHR confirmed that Marom, Ayalon and other army veterans working in the company had committed war crimes during their years of service in the Israeli army ranging from murder to the torture of Palestinians and foreigners sympathetic to their cause.
The AOHR further revealed that this was not the only company managed by army veterans which operates in the region, thus posing a great threat to national security. According to the report, there are several Israeli companies from various fields currently running operating in the Arab world and other countries.
M. Jamil, president of the AOHR, remarked that Marom and Ayalon remain very close to the Israeli security apparatus despite officially retiring from military service and continue to provide the security services with information and intelligence. Jamil pointed out that many retired army officers worked in the private sector for a while before returning to occupy influential and sensitive posts in the army or security services.
The AOHR called upon Arab countries and the international community to sever all contacts with this company and others like it since the perpetrators of crimes of war are not capable of providing any form of security.
