‘Arab Spring’ Revolt in Libya Leaves Country in Chaos

Fighters speed towards the frontllne fighting in the village of Mayah, some 30 kilometers west of Tripoli, Libya, on August 21, 2011. (AP)
Fighters speed towards the frontllne fighting in the village of Mayah, some 30 kilometers west of Tripoli, Libya, on August 21, 2011. (AP)
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‘Arab Spring’ Revolt in Libya Leaves Country in Chaos

Fighters speed towards the frontllne fighting in the village of Mayah, some 30 kilometers west of Tripoli, Libya, on August 21, 2011. (AP)
Fighters speed towards the frontllne fighting in the village of Mayah, some 30 kilometers west of Tripoli, Libya, on August 21, 2011. (AP)

Two days before the eruption of the popular protests in Libya in February 2011, late ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi was very confident that he and his regime would withstand the pressure.

Along with his officials and security and intelligences agencies, he believed that nothing would happen, that the protests would be short-lived and his regime would endure.

The scene was different on social media, such as Facebook, where – for the first time – the Libyans displayed a boldness and did not hide behind fake names to express their opposition to the regime.

The spark was lit on February 15, 2011 with the arrest of lawyer Fathi Terbil in the eastern city of Benghazi. Terbil represented relatives of more than 1,000 prisoners allegedly massacred by security forces in Tripoli's Abu Salim jail in 1996. He was eventually freed.

The timing was bad. Security forces believe that they could prevent people from marking the anniversary of clashes that had taken place on February 17, 2006. Fourteen people were killed in the fighting that erupted with security forces and protesters, who had attacked the Italian consulate in wake of the publishing of offensive cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

On the fateful night in February 2011, the families of the prisoners had gathered in front of the police headquarters in Benghazi before marching on towards the central part of the city.

What ensued was the moment of truth for the army and military. The regime realized that it had committed a major error when it deprived the military of training and had limited changes to its leadership. For years, Gaddafi, wary of military coups against his rule, had stripped the military of its weapons and only appointed officials he trusted to leadership positions.

Trust trumped competence and the result was an army, security and intelligence force that collapsed at the slighted popular pressure. State institutions then followed. Libya teetered on the brink and has been in such a state ever since.

The west, eager to overthrow the old regime, soon provided the people with weapons. The result was thousands of undisciplined gunmen, who forged alliances with militias, which now are the only organized army in the oil-rich country.

In February, Libya will mark ten years of the ouster of the Gaddafi regime. The people have nothing to celebrate as the country is still mired in chaos and the United Nations is still grasping at straws to reach a political breakthrough to end the suffering.

The Libyans traded the ouster of the regime for chaos in a country that is now a failed state.

They face the daunting task of fighting corruption and demanding militias to lay down their weapons and in turn release their grip on the country’s natural wealth.

Added to the equation is Turkey, which is backing the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). The GNA, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, has surrounded itself with militias and mercenaries that are backed by Ankara.

Complicating the scenario are regional and international interests in Libya and how they impact military, political and economic developments in the country.

Amid these struggles, the regular civilian pays the price. They embraced the revolution only to be met with revolutionaries who refuse to lay down their weapons and build a state.



Iran-Israel War: A Lifeline for Netanyahu?

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
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Iran-Israel War: A Lifeline for Netanyahu?

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

The Iran-Israel war has helped strengthen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu domestically and overseas, just as his grip on power looked vulnerable.

On the eve of launching strikes on Iran, his government looked to be on the verge of collapse, with a drive to conscript ultra-Orthodox Jews threatening to scupper his fragile coalition.

Nearly two years on from Hamas's unprecedented attack in 2023, Netanyahu was under growing domestic criticism for his handling of the war in Gaza, where dozens of hostages remain unaccounted for, said AFP.

Internationally too, he was coming under pressure including from longstanding allies, who since the war with Iran began have gone back to expressing support.

Just days ago, polls were predicting Netanyahu would lose his majority if new elections were held, but now, his fortunes appear to have reversed, and Israelis are seeing in "Bibi" the man of the moment.

– 'Reshape the Middle East' –

For decades, Netanyahu has warned of the risk of a nuclear attack on Israel by Iran -- a fear shared by most Israelis.

Yonatan Freeman, a geopolitics expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Netanyahu's argument that the pre-emptive strike on Iran was necessary draws "a lot of public support" and that the prime minister has been "greatly strengthened".

Even the opposition has rallied behind him.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one," opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote in a Jerusalem Post op-ed.

A poll published Saturday by a conservative Israeli channel showed that 54 percent of respondents expressed confidence in the prime minister.

The public had had time to prepare for the possibility of an offensive against Iran, with Netanyahu repeatedly warning that Israel was fighting for its survival and had an opportunity to "reshape the Middle East."

During tit-for-tat military exchanges last year, Israel launched air raids on targets in Iran in October that are thought to have severely damaged Iranian air defenses.

Israel's then-defense minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes had shifted "the balance of power" and had "weakened" Iran.

"In fact, for the past 20 months, Israelis have been thinking about this (a war with Iran)," said Denis Charbit, a political scientist at Israel's Open University.

Since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Netanyahu has ordered military action in Gaza, against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as targets in Syria where long-time leader Bashar al-Assad fell in December last year.

"Netanyahu always wants to dominate the agenda, to be the one who reshuffles the deck himself -- not the one who reacts -- and here he is clearly asserting his Churchillian side, which is, incidentally, his model," Charbit said.

"But depending on the outcome and the duration (of the war), everything could change, and Israelis might turn against Bibi and demand answers."

– Silencing critics –

For now, however, people in Israel see the conflict with Iran as a "necessary war," according to Nitzan Perelman, a researcher specialized in Israel at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France.

"Public opinion supports this war, just as it has supported previous ones," she added.

"It's very useful for Netanyahu because it silences criticism, both inside the country and abroad."

In the weeks ahead of the Iran strikes, international criticism of Netanyahu and Israel's military had reached unprecedented levels.

After more than 55,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, and a blockade that has produced famine-like conditions there, Israel has faced growing isolation and the risk of sanctions, while Netanyahu himself is the subject of an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

But on Sunday, two days into the war with Iran, the Israeli leader received a phone call from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has held talks with numerous counterparts.

"There's more consensus in Europe in how they see Iran, which is more equal to how Israel sees Iran," explained Freeman from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday that Israel was doing "the dirty work... for all of us."

The idea that a weakened Iran could lead to regional peace and the emergence of a new Middle East is appealing to the United States and some European countries, according to Freeman.

But for Perelman, "Netanyahu is exploiting the Iranian threat, as he always has."