Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army and de facto governor of Cyrenaica (northeast of the country), has instructed his son Saddam to negotiate with Israel.

Accompanied by a group of French lobbyists, Saddam landed at Ben Gurion Airport (Lod, Israel) on 1 November 2021, aboard a Falcon registered P4-RMA, coming from Dubai. He only stood on the tarmac for a few minutes; just long enough to greet Nimrod Gez, a former Shin Bet operative and currently Libya Desk Manager at the Israeli Security Council. The plane took off 90 minutes later for Benghazi (Libya).

According to Ha’aretz, the negotiations focused, on the one hand, on the upcoming election in Libya and on the possibility for the emerging government to recognize Israel and, on the other hand, on the support that Israel could provide to Marshal Haftar to help him win the election [1].

[1] “Son of Libyan Strongman Haftar Visited Israel, Seeking Diplomatic Ties for Military Aid”, Yossi Melman, Ha’aretz, November 8, 2021.