He said the number of collisions between birds and IAF planes dropped by more than 70 percent since the project started in 1992.
Leshem is holding talks on behalf of the IAF with the Jordanians to set up a radar network, which would cover the entire region.
INITIATIVES
He has in the past years already conducted joint research and educational projects with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Jordan.
One project had some 90 schools in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian autonomous areas follow groups of migrating birds online.
The schools communicated through the Internet and met in the field to watch the birds they were tracking together.
Another initiative involved the establishment of bird ringing (banding) and research stations in Israel, Palestinian areas and Jordan, which work together and exchange information.
Leshem's anecdotes are endless. Once, one of his Pelicans was caught with a transmitter in Sudan. The predominantly Muslim state immediately accused Israel of using Pelicans for spying.
"We couldn't get our radio back," the 56-year-old said.
Another time, in 1999, he held a conference on birds and flight safety. A delegation of the Royal Jordanian Air Force participated in the conference at the International Center for the Study of Bird Migration, which Leshem directs.
ENMITY IGNORED
The center is located at an armored corps memorial site in Latrun, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where the Jordanian Arab legion defeated the nascent Israeli army in one of the most desperate battles of the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli war.
Leshem recalled how he watched in awe as the Israeli and Jordanian flags were hoisted side by side and air force generals of both countries saluted.
"They would have never come here to salute the [fallen Israeli] soldiers. But through the birds they came," he said.
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