{"id":368055,"date":"2021-04-01T11:30:40","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T15:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=368055"},"modified":"2021-04-01T11:30:43","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T15:30:43","slug":"israeli-intel-officials-met-with-libyan-candidate-for-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israeli-intel-officials-met-with-libyan-candidate-for-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Intel Officials Met With Libyan Candidate for President"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fisraeli-intel-officials-met-with-libyan-candidate-for-president%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=368055&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-66.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Israeli intelligence officials met privately this month with the son of Libya&#8217;s top warlord to discuss his 2021 presidential candidacy, a signal that Israel is supporting his bid, a source familiar with the meeting told the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Saddam Haftar has been quietly seeking Western backing for his campaign, which is expected to pit him against Saif al-Islam Qaddafi<strong>,<\/strong>&nbsp;the son of former strongman Muammar Qaddafi. Haftar is seen as a proxy for his father Khalifa Haftar, a dual U.S.-Libyan citizen and commander of the Libyan National Army.<\/p>\n<div class=\"posts-content__category-widget md:hidden -ml-4 -mr-4 my-8 px-4 py-6 bg-gray-100\">\n<h4 class=\"mt-0 text-red-600 font-medium font-sans uppercase\">Recent Stories in National Security<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"list-none p-0 \">\n<li class>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/israeli-intel-officials-met-with-libyan-candidate-for-president\/\"><strong>Israeli Intel Officials Met With Libyan Candidate for President<\/strong><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/u-n-casts-doubt-on-chinese-claims-of-growing-support-for-human-rights-record\/\"><strong>U.N. Casts Doubt on Chinese Claims of Growing Support for Human Rights Record<\/strong><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/gop-blasts-outrageous-biden-admin-offer-to-roll-back-iran-sanctions\/\"><strong>GOP Blasts \u2018Outrageous&#8217; Biden Admin Offer to Roll Back Iran Sanctions<\/strong><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>A victory by Haftar could lead to closer relations between Israel and Libya, which doesn&#8217;t recognize the Jewish state. In the past year, Morocco, Sudan, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates all agreed to normalize ties with Israel.<\/p>\n<p>During the meeting with Israeli intelligence officials, which took place earlier this month, the younger Haftar discussed &#8220;the situation in the region&#8221; and &#8220;his aspiration for stability of his country,&#8221; as well as his professed support for &#8220;democracy in his country, law and order,&#8221; according to the source familiar with the meeting. &#8220;The Israelis are supporting him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli embassy did not respond to a request for comment. Israel&#8217;s intelligence agencies have long been believed to support Haftar&#8217;s father, but the Israeli government has not stated this publicly.<\/p>\n<p>Libya&#8217;s general election is slated for Dec. 24, 2021, its first since 2014. Attempts to schedule the election in 2018 and 2019 were delayed due to the country&#8217;s civil war. Earlier this month, the Libyan parliament confirmed an interim government with a temporary prime minister and presidential council.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli intelligence sources expect the election to be a battle between Haftar and Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.israelhayom.co.il\/article\/861047\">report<\/a> in <em>Israel Hayom<\/em>. Qaddafi&#8217;s bid is allegedly backed by Vladimir Putin&#8217;s administration, which <a href=\"https:\/\/libyareview.com\/6624\/saif-al-islam-gaddafi-in-moscow-for-secret-talks-with-russians\/\">reportedly<\/a> met with the candidate in Moscow in September, according to Italian newspaper <em>Corriere della Sera<\/em>. Qaddafi, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coalitionfortheicc.org\/cases\/saif-alislam-gaddafi\">served<\/a> as &#8220;de facto prime minister&#8221; in the waning days of his father&#8217;s regime, is on the lam from the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n<p>Haftar, a captain in the Libyan National Army, claims to hold a secular, pro-democratic vision for Libya, in line with his father. But he has also drawn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeastmonitor.com\/20180914-haftars-son-moves-millions-from-central-bank-of-libya\/\">criticism<\/a> from the United Nations and Libyan activists for leading a battalion to allegedly raid nearly half-a-billion dollars from the Central Bank of Libya in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Haftar&#8217;s father, Khalifa Haftar, was a trusted former military leader under Muammar Qaddafi before defecting and becoming a CIA asset in the 1990s. He spent nearly 20 years living in northern Virginia and returned to Libya in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>As leader of the Libyan National Army, the elder Haftar has enjoyed Western support for years. But these alliances were undercut after he launched a 2019 military siege against the United Nations-backed interim government in Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>French president Emmanuel Macron publicly rebuked the Libyan warlord\u2014whom France had backed for years\u2014over the bloody military campaign, and human rights groups accused him of indiscriminate war crimes.<\/p>\n<p>The siege, however, didn&#8217;t appear to damage Haftar&#8217;s relationship with President Donald Trump, who spoke to the warlord by phone at the time and &#8220;recognized Field Marshal Haftar&#8217;s significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya&#8217;s oil resources,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-libya-security-usa\/u-s-calls-on-libyas-haftar-to-halt-tripoli-war-warns-against-russias-role-idUSKBN1XP210\">according<\/a> to a White House statement.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-8 hide-print\">\n\t\t<!-- \/339474670\/Freebeacon\/InContent --><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1526555381173-4\" class=\"mobile-250 desktop-90\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israeli intelligence officials met privately this month with the son of Libya&#8217;s top warlord to discuss his 2021 presidential candidacy, a signal that Israel is supporting his bid, a source &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2311505,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-66.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Israeli Intel Officials Met With Libyan Candidate for President","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-368055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-66.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Israeli Intel Officials Met With Libyan Candidate for President","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2311505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}