Report: Libya Coup General to Meet With Israeli Officials in Amman

Gen. Hifter About to Be Made Head of Army

Attempted coups d’etat by Libyan General Khalifa Hifter have been a very public fact, but incredibly, the man who spent decades living in Virginia, and who claims CIA backing, seems untouchable, and the parliament is poised to appoint him the official head of Libya’s Army.

His ambitions to take over the country outright don’t seem to be going anywhere, however, and he is said to have twice visited Egypt in the past week to secure weapons shipments. Egypt has not exactly made it a secret they favor Gen. Hifter, and have been seen as a likely backer of recent rallies calling for his appointment as military ruler.

After the summer 2013 coup, Egypt’s junta seems eager to export their style of governance, and they apparently aren’t the only ones, as the latest reports say Gen. Hifter is planning a trip to Amman, Jordan, to meet with Israeli officials who might be interested in Hifter becoming “Libya’s Sisi.”

Israel was one of the first nations to loudly back Egypt’s coup, and the installation of Sisi as their new dictator. They were also one of the few nations that publicly admitted they believed the benefits of brutal military rule in Egypt outweighed any democratic ideals or basic human rights.

While Libya isn’t on Israel’s border, and that likely makes them a bit less interested, they do seem keen to follow the Egypt precedent, and Gen. Hifter seems a tailor-made to fill that role.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.