Following a secret visit to Israel, a delegation of Libyan businessman has shown surprising concern for the image of embattled dictator Moammar Gadhafi. According to a Channel 2 TV report, Opposition Leader and Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni and MK Meir Sheerit hosted a group of Libyans on Thursday in a Tel Aviv hotel. The Sunday report described the delegation as Libyan businessmen who arrived in Israel via private jet, traveling on foreign passports. Two Jews of Libyan descent who now reside in Italy and France, respectively, were also present. MK Sheetrit told Channel 2 that the Libyans were very concerned about negative Israeli perceptions of Gadhafi, who is fighting a rear-guard battle against a growing insurgency to his decades-long rule. Saying that Gadhafi actually enjoys a great number of supporters, the Libyans told the Israeli politicians that media reports portraying the strongman as a horrific tyrant are inaccurate. "They contacted me through a mediator," MK Sheetrit said of the delegation. "They were very critical of NATO's bombardment of Libya and it seems that they were attempting to convince Israel to oppose NATO actions. The delegation, however, had no connection to the ruling regime in Libya. They were businesspeople." According to another source who knew of the meeting, the Libyans offered to broker a deal wherein Israel would aid in efforts to halt the NATO bombing and in return, Libya would return assets belonging to Jews who had fled the North African country. Pedazur Bennatia, who chairs Or Shalom, Bat Yam's Libyan-Jewish community center, said he was also asked to host the Libyan delegation but was unable to because of timing constraints. The entire episode with the Libyan delegation was "very odd," said one senior security official, adding, "No one has any interest in either restoring ties with Gadhafi or meeting with his representatives in an effort to change his tarnished image. Internationally he has become an outcast. He is a murderer who is slaughtering his own people and should be treated accordingly." Livni, however, felt differently. She agreed to meet the delegation, a move that garnered harsh criticism from both political and security circles in Israel. Livni "displayed a serious lapse in judgment," said a senior security official, "made all the worse since she previously served as foreign minister and should have been more aware of the sensitive nature of the matter. Fortunately other members of the government showed greater responsibility and refused to meet with those same people." Livni refused to comment on the matter.
