The honeymoon between Netanyahu and Haftar is (already) over

“Has a family like the Haftars, whom America is courting, helped pave the way for an agreement that harms America’s partners?” This question was posed by Brad Parscale, Donald Trump’s former (now repentant) communications guru. Writing in Townhall, a leading website for American conservatives, Parscale noted that the special relationship between the White House and the Benghazi general, Saddam Haftar, is a boomerang for America’s allies – namely Europe and Israel. The day after the ratification of the memorandum between Libya and Turkey on maritime borders – drawn between two opposite shores of the Mediterranean as if Greece or Cyprus did not exist in between – the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that “the agreement violates the sovereign rights of third states, does not comply with the law of the sea and is null and void”. The Greek Foreign Minister, George Gerapetritis, threatened retaliation: “All funding agreements for Libya go through Greece. Even Turkey’s EU accession process depends on our position.” The Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that “the agreement violates the sovereign rights of our close allies. Turkey is once again destabilising the eastern Mediterranean.” 

On Tuesday, almost simultaneously with the ratification of the memorandum between Libya and Turkey by the Tobruk Parliament, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an interview to Channel 14 in which he attacked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his policy of exerting influence in the Middle East and North Africa. “It is not I who want a confrontation with Turkey,” he said. “It is Turkey that wants a confrontation with us. Erdogan maintains that Israel must be destroyed and that Jerusalem is their city. He believes he can revive the Ottoman Empire. He forgets that there is a country here to which we have been bound for over 3,000 years. We are no longer in the 16th century, when the Ottomans took control of these lands and ruled for 400 years. Today, there is a reality here: the Jewish state, in the homeland of the Jewish people.” Netanyahu’s reference to Erdogan’s Ottoman aspirations also brings Libya into the picture, where the Turks are now among the key partners in both Tripoli and Benghazi. And whilst Israel is so concerned about Turkish influence in Libya, it is also a matter of resources and economic interconnections.

Parscale, who currently works for the Israeli government through his digital marketing consultancy, Clock Tower X, writes in his editorial that should the memorandum between Libya and Turkey be followed through, Israel and Europe would see the GSI project jeopardised, the Great Sea Interconnector, the world’s longest undersea power cable, which is set to link Israel to Greece and Cyprus and thus to Europe over a distance of more than 1,200 kilometres. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whilst visiting Athens two weeks ago, had voiced his support for the GSI. “Rubio had just stated that America would work to overcome the obstacles to the project,” Parscale pointed out, “but Haftar’s alignment subsequently strengthened the position of the country that was putting obstacles in the way of the project itself.” That is, Turkey, which views the GSI as an affront by Israel to its own interests.

The subsea cable project is funded by the European Commission, which has already allocated 658 million euros – one of the largest grants ever awarded by Brussels. “It is one of the eight energy corridors we intend to prioritise in order to complete our energy union,” said Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen last May. This effort has come at the expense of Turkey, which had hoped to snatch the partnership for the project away from Israel. Yesterday, in an interview with the Greek press, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, also spoke on the matter: “My president (Erdogan, ed.) has said that he would prefer you to buy electricity from us rather than transporting it over a distance of 2,000 kilometres, spending more than 2 billion euros of European funds. We can supply water, electricity and natural gas from mainland Turkey, just 70 miles away, for the benefit of everyone: Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots and the entire population.” Fidan, who just yesterday in Brussels met the EU’s High Representative, Kaja Kallas – who seemed less than enthusiastic about the summit, judging by her frown during the customary photos – attempted to play down the issue, stating that the problem is purely procedural and that Turkey has nothing against the GSI. “What we are asking is that when a vessel carries out surveys at sea, it sends us a written notification – not just a verbal one – stating: ‘We intend to carry out specific activities in this particular area. Here are the coordinates’.”

According to Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, Israel’s anger over the agreement between Libya and Turkey is set to change the fortunes of the North African country. “Israel is extremely unhappy with Saddam’s pro-Turkey decision,” he explains to Il Foglio. “It is highly likely that, in the near future, the Jewish state will launch a campaign against Haftar in the US media and, even more crucially, within Washington’s political circles. The aim is to undermine Saddam’s position, thereby gaining greater bargaining power and curbing his alignment with Ankara.” Following the recent overtures between Israel and Haftar – including the secret meeting in September in the United Arab Emirates between Saddam and Netanyahu – the memorandum with Turkey could already signal the end of the surprising honeymoon between Benghazi and the Jewish state.