Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, unveiled Sunday that Khalifa Haftar's son, Saddam, visited Tel Aviv last Monday with a message from his father asking for political and military support from Israel, vowing to establish diplomatic relations between Libya and Israel in return.
The newspaper said Haftar's French plane, which he uses for travel along with his family and aides, landed in Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv coming from Dubai, and stayed 90 minutes on the ground, adding that Saddam met with security officials, whom the paper didn't name. The plane then took off to Libya.
The report said it wasn't clear who the Israeli officials that met Haftar were, but added that Haftar had had secret talks with Israeli officials in the past, including from the Mossad, let alone the contact between him and Israeli National Council members.
The report also said Haftar son's visit is closely related to December elections in Libya, saying Israel has always been interested in Libya due to its geostrategic location off the Mediterranean and near Egypt, not to mention the fact that Jews used to live Libya before leaving to Italy.
Haaretz reported that Israel sided with Haftar in the Libyan conflict, adding that the Mossad contacted Haftar for thwarting sending of stolen weapons from Libyan depots to Hamas in Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Haftar's side didn't comment on the report nor did Israeli government. Libya has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
