JERUSALEM, 19 August 2004 — The United States rejected an Israeli newspaper report yesterday that its troops were currently being trained by the Israeli Army in counterinsurgency tactics for use in Iraq.
But the US Embassy in Israel said it would not comment on any previous exercises with forces in the Jewish state - a very sensitive issue for US forces fighting insurgents in Iraq.
The Jerusalem Post said US Army units were being trained at the Adam Special Forces school near Modi’in in central Israel on guerrilla and urban warfare tactics developed by troops fighting a nearly four-year-old Palestinian uprising.
It did not say what its source was, how many soldiers were involved or how long they would spend there.
“After completing their training, the units will return to Iraq,” the English-language daily said. But a US Embassy spokesman told Reuters: “The report is false. There are no US troops in Israel conducting exercises with the Israeli army.”
“From time to time the United States and Israel conduct cooperative exercises but as a matter of policy we don’t go into the details.” The Israeli Army said it did not comment on cooperation with foreign armies.
Reuters reported last year that US generals were studying Israel’s tactics against Palestinian militants for use in Iraq.
