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.

Dear Sir,

On behalf of our clients, Major General (res.) Israel Ziv and Global CST, we hereby refer to you as follows:

1. On March 5, 2011, a ridiculous, false and defamatory article was published on Voltair’s website (http://www.voltairenet.org/article1...), allegedly stating that “Global CST has so far provided Gaddafi’s regime with 50,000 African mercenaries to attack the civilian anti-government protesters in Libya”.

Moreover, this baseless and ridiculous article goes on and states, among other things, that “Netanyahu’s cabinet asked Israeli company Global CST to bail out Colonel Khadafi’s friendly regime…Gaddafi regime pays $2000 per day for each mercenary. The mercenaries receive $100 per day and the remaining goes to Global CST…”.

2. Due to the fact that the content of this article is so absurd and outrageous, it does not merit a serious and substantive comment. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, there is a sweeping denial by Israeli officials’ authorities regarding the subject matter of this article, which further indicates the false and ridiculous nature of its content.

3. Without derogating from the generality of the foregoing, it should be mentioned that this article, which clearly lacks any substantive basis, although raises sever allegations against reputable figures in Israel, was published without first obtaining the response of our clients to the allegations against them contained therein, and this by itself constitutes a harsh violation of accepted journalistic practices.

4. It should be mentioned that Major General (res.) Israel Ziv is a highly decorated and highly appreciated retired general of the Israeli Defense Forces and has no connection whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, to the events in Libya and/or to any of the other activities or events referred to in the article.

5. The publication of the article and the specific reference that has been made therein to our client’s name, have already caused and will cause in the future, sever damages and losses, both reputational and economic, to our clients.

6. In light of the aforementioned, you are hereby required to immediately delete any reference to our clients in the article and/or any other related article, and to publish within 24 hours of the date of this letter, a clear and obvious apology on your website, which states that there is no connection whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, between our clients and the events and actions referred to in the article.

7. In the event that our request as set forth in Section 7 above will not be fulfilled within 24 hours of the date of this letter, our clients instructed us to pursue any legal actions and remedies available to them under any applicable law and jurisdiction.

8. Nothing in the above shall exhaust the claims and actions of our clients and/or constitute an admission and/or waiver of any claim and/or demand whatsoever and/or waiver of any remedy and/or relief available to them and they reserve all of their rights under any law.

Kind regards,

Moshe Kahn, Adv.