Local GILEE Delegation Returns from Israel
The 17-member delegation spent two weeks learning from Israel’s top public safety leaders and executives.
Sasha Heller is the Web Editor and Copy Editor for the Atlanta Jewish Times
A delegation of 17 Georgia and Tennessee public safety executives and veteran police officials recently returned from Israel after spending two weeks in public safety leadership training with Israel’s premier police executives as part of the 31st annual Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program.
Among the delegates were state police chiefs, sheriffs, and command staff personnel. The leadership training sessions included best practices and innovative technologies related to public safety. GILEE Director Col. (Ret.) Brent Cummings led the delegation, which included GILEE Founding Director Robbie Friedmann and Associate Director, who oversaw operations.
Friedmann, who has led 31 annual delegations to Israel throughout his career, said this year’s trip was different as the war-torn nation has been forced to defend itself from attacks by Hamas and Iranian terrorist proxy groups in Lebanon and Yemen.
“This time, I found a country, a society, and a police force like never before and that included very tough periods of terrorist attacks during the … Second Intifada. This time, we found Israel, its police force, and its citizens hurt, in pain, in trauma, vulnerable, in mourning, knowing full well and processing that the war following the Oct. 7 heinous attack is still going on.”
Friedmann said the delegates were deeply affected after speaking with Israeli security forces who responded to the brutal attack by Hamas.
“We learned about the challenge of identifying about 1,400 victims, some beyond recognition, requiring complex forensic procedures, the clearing of about 1,400 vehicles, including those Toyota Hilux and motorcycles the terrorists used in their attack,” he said. “The scale of the atrocities is still hard to comprehend even when the facts are known.”
Amidst the struggle, Friedmann said he also observed a sense of optimism, hope, and strength.
“We also found [an] Israel that is resilient, determined, mission-focused, and even optimistic. These two apparently contradictory features were obvious throughout the entire program. In every police briefing and site visit, we learned about the impact of Oct. 7. We heard from those who were on duty at the Nova Music Festival and in Sderot. We have been to the Sderot police station with many delegations and this time we stood on the ruins of the old building where they will erect a memorial and build a new police station nearby.”
In addition to police, the delegation also met with civic leaders such as the spiritual leader of the Druze community, Sheikh Muafaq Tarif, and Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav.
“Both emphasized perseverance, caring for their communities, and cooperating with the police,” Friedmann said.
Friedmann founded GILEE in 1992 to assist with security preparations in advance of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. GILEE would continue to assist with Olympic Games security details in Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Beijing, London, and Rio de Janeiro.
GILEE is centered at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State. Friedmann explained that the program “is based on the principle of peer-to-peer, on-site training. GILEE delivers transformative leadership programs that clearly exemplify community policing and contribute to more effective and civilized policing.”
GILEE Director Cummings elaborated on the program’s objective and its importance to local public safety infrastructure.
“We expose our delegates to policing systems under different cultures, different legal systems and different structures to help enhance their professional leadership development. For example, leadership dilemmas faced by Israel Police executives are relevant to leadership dilemmas our delegates face at home. They learn to recognize challenges and how to better deal with them while forming their own thoughts on how to be better leaders. Our delegates learn important lessons from their peers on how to better serve their own communities.”
After leading 31 delegations, Israel is still finding ways to reveal itself to Friedmann.
“We came to learn and during the program we felt we also came to strengthen. After returning, I felt we were strengthened. That is the professional and civic secret of Israel.”
For more information on GILEE, go to gilee.gsu.edu.
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