40 Officers from 17 Countries Come Together for Seven Days of Advanced Training

Worldwide military officers came together for a week of training in the IDF’s Ground Forces Training Center. The officers participated in operation simulations, drove Hummers and were presented with Israeli training methods. 

It’s not everyday that forty military officers find themselves driving the same Hummer–but two weeks ago, it happened. Foreign delegations arrived at “Little Gaza”—an IDF training center designed to create realistic urban warfare scenarios—in order to expand their knowledge of Israeli techniques and developments. Approximately 17 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Japan and Uganda, received a “behind the scences” look of the Ground Forces’ capabilities. 

In one intensive week, the officers toured numerous Ground Forces bases and were exposed to a variety of capabilities and tools. Those included were armored vehicles, combat engineering means and simulators. 

The Head of the Economy and International Training Desk in the Ground Forces, MAJ Yaacov, shared his takeaways from this exceptionally interesting week: “The more we work together as militaries, the more we can create, develop and gain.

This week we created a network of learning, knowledge and support between the two countries. Whether in times of need or during daily training, it’s an inseparable part of Israel’s military and national resilience.”

The officers were brought to the Tze’elim base in southern Israel, where they operated shooting, commanding and domination of populated areas simulators. 

Delegation members observed IDF soldiers during a live exercise and were impressed by the logistics, the activity and manner in which the trainers critiqued the troops’ capabilities and judgment in real time. 

In the words of MAJ Yaakov: "The IDF is a global source of knowledge. As we draw conclusions from previous campaigns and improve our training accordingly, so do people who come from around the world to learn and develop alongside us.”