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The British Daily Guardian reported on the 7th (local time) that the military forces in Myanmar, who took control of the regime through a coup, have hired an Israeli-based international lobbyist to renew their image.
According to reports, the Myanmar military recently recruited Israeli-Canadian Ari Benmenashi, 69, as a lobbyist, saying, “We need help explaining the country’s real situation.”
Benmenashi is a former member of the Israeli military intelligence agency, signed contracts with former Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe and the Sudanese military regime, and is also known to have worked in Venezuela, Tunisia, and Kyrgyzstan.
He received public attention after revealing that former US President Ronald Reagan conspired not to release American hostages by joining Iranian forces to win the then-president Jimmy Carter during the presidential election.
In an interview with a media outlet, Benmenashi also revealed that it was correct to sign a contract with the Myanmar military “receiving a large sum” and that he would receive an additional fee if the international sanctions against them were lifted.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on some military officials, such as freezing assets in the U.S. and banning entry into the country, saying that Myanmar military forces initiated a coup and suppressed peaceful protests, and put four companies, including Myanmar Economic Enterprise and Myanmar Economic Holding Company, on the list of export regulations.
Ben Menash also said that his consulting firm, Dickens & Madson Canada, was hired to help communicate with military forces in Myanmar and other countries such as the United States. At the time, it was reported that the military side of Myanmar said, “These countries misunderstand us.”
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Among the messages to justify Myanmar’s military forces, it is likely to include the contents of state adviser Aung San Suu Kyi detained in a coup on the 1st of last month.
Benmenashi said that shame torture was more involved in the murder of the Rohingya by the Myanmar army than is known. “It was not the army that persecuted the Rohingya, but Aung Sansuchi.”
The Muslim Rohingya were opposed to religious repression in Myanmar, a Buddhist country, and attacked a police post in 2017 and were severely subjugated by the military. In the process, military assault and massacre took place, and more than hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people escaped by boat, but tragedy followed, such as collective drowning in the sea.
At that time, adviser Suu Kyi, a symbol of Myanmar’s democratization and the Nobel Peace Prize winner, was criticized for having watched the Rohingya issue and spearheading the military, but in reality, it was said that he led it, not just bystander.
Benmenashi also argued that the military forces initiated a coup to prevent the Suu Kyi regime from getting closer to China.
“There was actually a movement (of military forces) to turn to Western society such as the United States rather than stay close to China,” he said. “They don’t want to be puppets in China.”
Regarding the allegations made by military forces during the coup that “the shame regime did not properly investigate the fraudulent elections,” Benmenashi explained that there was evidence to show that the elections were fabricated, and that minorities were barred from exercising their voting rights.
However, Ben Menashi did not provide evidence and said that the current Myanmar protests are being responded by the police, not the army, but the Guardian said that armed troops appear in the photos and videos taken locally.
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