Agrandissement : Illustration 1
Muammar Gaddafi turned to Israel for assistance during the final days of his dictatorial regime in Libya, according to an Israeli Army Radio report cited in the Times of Israel.
Gaddafi made the request as Western coalition airstrikes bombarded the North African country, following the 2011 uprising that arrived with the spread of the Arab Spring. The NATO coalition was targeting regime forces that were fighting rebels.
An emissary traveled to Jerusalem from an unnamed third country to request help on behalf of the embattled Gaddafi, the report says. His hope was that Israel could leverage its relations with the US and France to put a halt to the airstrikes.
However, Israel decided not to take any action in response to the plea, according to the report.
In public, the Libyan dictator openly called for Israel's destruction and funded numerous Palestinian terrorist organizations, including the group that killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Libya has descended into near-anarchy since the collapse of Gaddafi's regime, ruled by rival militias vying for power while the Islamic State group has gained influence in the country.
With the situation continuing to deteriorate, President Barack Obama last week said that the biggest mistake of his presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of the fall of late Libyan leader.
Asked in a Fox News interview aired Sunday to name the "worst mistake" of his presidency, the US leader said it was "probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya."