An Israeli journalist whose question prompted Myanmar’s ambassador to Israel to confirm the existence of an ongoing arms trade relationship between the two countries says she stands by her report, even after attempts by both governments to discredit it.
In an interview for Galatz Radio on November 30, host Yaara Agami Houry asked Ambassador Maung Maung Lynn to respond to allegations that the Myanmar military had used Israeli weapons in its operations in Rakhine State, which have driven more than 620,000 from the country. (The question is summarized by a co-host but not included in the audio report.)
In his response, Maung Maung Lynn acknowledges that Israel and Myanmar had inked at least one new arms deal since he took up his post as ambassador in August 2016.
“So, during my time, there is a new, another contract, according to my knowledge. Maybe the Myanmar government procured from your country, but [the weapons were] never involved in this Rakhine issue. This is only for standard army procurement to strengthen their military might in their own country according to the international law and standards,” the ambassador told Agami.
Less than an hour after the interview aired, Israel’s foreign ministry announced that the ambassador had retracted his comment and apologized.
“Israel does not sell arms to Myanmar,” the ministry said in a statement, which Agami immediately posted to the Galatz Radio website alongside her original audio story.
The Myanmar embassy also responded to the report, saying Agami and her co-host “only re-played very limited pieces of the recorded voice of the ambassador as they interpreted and explained to the public.” The embassy also claims the ambassador actually said “there isn’t a new, another contract” rather than “there is,” and that Agami misheard or misinterpreted him because of his accent, his imperfect English-speaking skills, and the poor quality of the recording.
The embassy called on Galatz Radio to “do a necessary amendment” for “unintentionally [committing] a mistake which has totally reversed the definition of the ambassador’s answer and this led to the mess in the atmosphere of the media.”
Agami flatly rejects the embassy’s claims.
“We used three English native speakers and three [non-native] English speakers in order to assure that the translation is as accurate as possible,” she told Coconuts Yangon. “His last answer in the interview concerning weapons – we broadcast the full answer of more than a minute, from the beginning to the end, with no cuts and no changes – because I took into account the fact that this is a sensitive topic.”
She added: “I can assure you that as a media platform, we did our best to ensure that we are as accurate as possible. You are more than welcome to listen to the recorded answer yourself and assess it.”
You can hear the ambassador’s full statement in English from the 4:50 mark here:
Ambassador Maung Maung Lynn’s comments in the Galatz Radio interview are not the first that have gotten him into trouble recently. On November 16, when asked by an Israeli journalist Yaakov Ahimeir why Myanmar “needs so much arms from Israel,” the ambassador responded: “Every country needs to defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity. We need a strong army, and it is normal. Israel has expertise in arms industry. We offer for arms procurement. Weapons or arms, the definitions are confusable.”
Although Maung Maung Lynn was reprimanded by Israel’s foreign ministry for the comment, a transcript remains on the embassy’s Facebook page.
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