An Israeli lawmaker who met the son of Muammar Qaddafi five months ago said on Wednesday the Libyan leader could go so far as to forge ties with the Jewish state that has long considered him a foe.
But a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry source said "the road to establishing relations between Israel and Libya is a long one" and Qaddafi "must prove by action that he truly intends to conduct dialogue."
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was also sceptical about any meetings with Libyan officials, including secret talks which political sources said took place two weeks ago between a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official and a Libyan representative.
Libya dismissed a report of the meeting in December as a baseless rumor.
Word of a diplomatic initiative emerged after Libya issued a surprise announcement last month that it was abandoning its unconventional weapons, an action welcomed by the US as a key step toward ending Libya's international isolation.
Ephraim Sneh of the opposition Labor party said that he and a member of Shinui, a centrist party in Israel's governing coalition, in August met Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, whom analysts believe is being groomed as his father's successor.
"My impression is that Qaddafi has made a strategic decision and he is not a man who takes small steps," Sneh told Israel Radio. "He will not stop midway and could even go as far as forging ties with Israel ... Right now it is in Qaddafi's hands."
Any breakthrough would be a major turnabout in relations between the two countries.
Libya has long been a sworn foe of Israel and for years sheltered anti-Israel militants, including Palestinian guerrilla chief Abu Nidal, who died of gunshot wounds in Baghdad last year.
In 1973, Israel shot down a Libyan airliner with more than 100 people aboard after it strayed over its airspace.
At a non-aligned summit in Belgrade in 1989, Qaddafi suggested that Jews should move to a new homeland in either the French region of Alsace-Lorraine, Alaska or the Baltic states.
Political sources confirmed a television report that senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official Ron Prosor met a Libyan representative two weeks ago to discuss opening a dialogue.
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