U.S. agencies, law enforcement officials visit Israel

Fifteen American officials from the higher levels of the police and security forces of the United States visited Israel earlier this month.

The goal of the visit was to “to learn lessons from Israel in terms of tactics and strategies and the evolution of terrorism,” according to, David C. Friedman. the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Washington, D.C. Regional Director and ADL’s Director of National Law Enforcement Initiatives. The ADL was responsible for the week long visit.

Per The Jerusalem Post:

“The meetings also serve to build bridges “between law enforcement agencies in two democracies,” and officers who take part in visits of this sort “come back and they are Zionists. They understand Israel and its security needs in ways a lot of audiences don’t,” [Friedman] said.

The delegation is in Israel as part of an Anti-Defamation League National Counter-Terrorism Seminar taking place on September 5-13.

The ADL said this week that during the trip – the 13th of its type it has organized – the participants are scheduled to meet with security experts and Israel Police commanders “to learn about effective methods of terror attack prevention and response,” as well as border and airport security, maintaining safety and access to holy sites, cyber-security and media relations.

This year the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were just a few of the agencies present at the conference in Israel. Officers from departments in Chicago, Seattle and Oakland were also present. Some exercises in the past have even taken place in the occupied West Bank.

Both the American and Israeli Police forces are often subject to criticism for the paramilitary nature of their police, who employ riot gear resembling full combat armor during protests. This criticism was especially prevalent following tense protests in Baltimore and across the United States following the death of Freddie Gray, while he was in police custody.

One activist from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was on the scene during the unrest in Baltimore—Ntebo Maya Mokuena—and was quoted saying “From Palestine to Baltimore, there are parallels with militarization of police and the tactics they use to take over space in other people’s land. They’re occupying people’s neighborhoods where they live. It’s like the second wave for Baltimore because it’s already economically occupied,”.

Pictures and videos of Israeli brutality have become just as common as videos of police using excessive force on Blacks in the U.S.

Recently, at a protest in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, an Israeli soldier violently attempted to arrest a 12-year-old boy, but luckily for him, several women and his 14-year-old sister helped pull him away. A video of the attack went viral.