Israel Ziv

Following the publication of our piece "Israel flies to the rescue of ally Khadafi", Israeli mercenary and arms distribution company Global CST and its owner, retired Israeli major general Israel Ziv (photo), have arranged for their law firm Mackrell International to send us a warning notice (see below).

Global CST does not contest having perpetrated crimes in Latin America and South Ossetia, but it denies having any current relations with Colonel Gaddafi.

Our information was derived from two different sources : on the one hand, a journalist working for the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot and, on the other hand, the Hebrew-language news site Inyan Merkazi. It has been widely disseminated and expanded on by television media, such as Al Jazeera or the Iranian English language global news network Press TV.

Such information bears out that Israel exploits its privileged ties with Colonel Gaddafi to fuel civil war and pave the way for NATO interference in North Africa.

During an interview he gave to France24, Colonel Khadafi made no secret of the fact that the military operations currently under his command are patterned after Israel’s Operation Cast Lead against Gaza.

Global CST’s denial comes on the heels of an in-depth investigation into its involvement in Guinea, entailing heavy sanctions which the company avoided by the skin of its teeth. It was accused of violating rules on arms trading and training by supplying a regime which was under sanctions. In the end, the company got off with a simple reminder that its mercenaries should respect their "ethical obligations".

At this point, a brief flashback is called for: General Moussa Dadis Camara seized power in Guinea at the end of 2008. In May 2009, he entrusted Global CST with the creation, oversight, training and equipment of his presidential guard for 10 million dollars per year. On 28 September 2009, Guinean soldiers, supervised by Global CST, sprayed live bullets on a group of opponents assembled in Conakry’s stadium, killing at least 157 people. While the regime of Moussa Dadis Camara was ostracized by the international community, an enquiry into the role of Global CST was opened in Israel. The mercenary company managed by retired Major general Israel Ziv and David Tzur, former commander of the Tel Aviv police, received an unexpected boost from former Labor Party Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, deputy Minister of Defense Efraim Sneh, and from former Israeli Ambassador to France Nissim Zvili. On the strength of the secret information provided by these characters, Global CST escaped penalties. According to Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz Global CST’s functions in Guinea were to bolster the business interests of diamond dealer Benny Steinmetz, who has employed former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert [1]. For its part, Global CST and its able attorneys launched a propaganda campaign pretending that the mercenary company was in Guinea to do ... well drilling development to supply villages with drinking water.

The Israeli Government cannot issue Global CST with an official authorization to intervene in Libya, knowing that the Security Council has banned all foreign military aid to Colonel Gaddafi. Global CST has therefore been entrusted with an unofficial mission in breach of Israeli law, which would explain the virulence of its denial. Moreover, other Israeli groups are present in the other camp. At the same time, the U.S. Ambassador to the Security Council has requested that the mercenaries intervening in Libya be exempt from prosecution under international law. One can never be too careful.

Major General Israel Ziv, who is portrayed by his lawyers as a well-reputed person inside Israel, is the former Tsahal chief of operations. In this capacity, he played a key role in the war crimes committed in Lebanon in 2006, supervising the bombardments that killed 1 187 civilians, caused the displacement of more than one million people, and destroyed over 15 000 buildings.

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[1] « Inside Intel / Bloody business in Africa », by Yossi Melman, Haaretz, 31 décembre 2009.

Global CST promotional video, including propaganda by Colombian President and Joint Chief of Staff.