Yaakov Kedmi, a former Israeli diplomat born in Moscow, has claimed without evidence that Kosovo was "terrorist" during the time it was a province within Yugoslavia.
In an interview with the Kremlin-friendly Russian media outlet Izvestia, Kedmi, who is also referred to as the head of the Israeli secret service "Nativ" (here)- which is actually known as the organization for cooperation with the Israeli diaspora (here) – is said to have said that Kosovo, since the early 50s, has been led by anti-Yugoslav terrorists.
Furthermore, according to Serbian media, which broadcast parts of this interview in "Izvestia", Yaakov Kedmi, also known by his Slavic name, Yasha Kazakov, said that the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was created by the American CIA and was supported in terms of armament, logistics, etc.
But, for all these claims, this Jewish personality does not present details. Although, it is not clear whether he was interpreted correctly by the Russian media, since the same cannot be opened as a result of the restrictions that the media close to the Kremlin have after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (see here).
Excerpts from Serbian media articles that broadcast Yaakov Kedmi's interview in "Izvestia":
There he mentioned the Kosovo Albanians and their army. Kosovo has been a bandit province of terrorists since the early fifties of the last century. It has always been at war with the Yugoslavs. I know this from the Slovenes who were the chief of security in Yugoslavia, I met them. They talked about who the bandits of Kosovo are and what kind of terror they are.
It's a CIA creation. And what they did later, they used later. And who supported the Kosovo Albanians? Who supported the bandits in Kosovo? Bin Laden. They're Muslims. Al Qaeda gave them money, Al Qaeda sent them its people, its instructors, its soldiers. That's what American democracy looks like, from the beginning. And when they started training the Kosovo bandits in the 1950s – right after World War II – they started doing that then too.
Some of the publications of this interview in Serbian-language media:
But, in fact, none of these claims that appear to have been made by Kedmi are based on any fact and, consequently, have no argumentative support.
After research conducted on the internet by the hibrid.info team in open sources, no credible document was found that supports the claims made by this person, a former Israeli official.
Every credible source, part of influential international organizations, reports that the KLA was financed by funds collected from the Diaspora of this country.
It is the English-language encyclopedia "Britannica" that has published data that proves the financing of the KLA by the Kosovar Diaspora. (see publication here)
Other credible sources also confirm the same (here).
Analyze:
From the fact check, it appears that the claims made by Yaakov Kedmi, in addition to not being based on any facts, i.e. not presenting facts for what he says, are also contrary to credible reports.
So it does not substantiate the claim that the KLA was created and funded by the CIA. In addition, it also contradicts credible reports compiled on this issue.
For this reason, hibrid.info evaluates these claims of his as "Verified Content" and therefore as a "Conspiracy Theory".
Reasoning:
The “Unverified” rating is given to those media reports that do not provide sufficient information to confirm the claims made in the report, and which have not been able to confirm the same due to the lack or non-possession of reliable sources.
"Conspiracy theories" are media reports that disseminate a false or unverifiable description of a phenomenon, event, or person, presenting it as part of or the result of a secret plan ("conspiracy"). A characteristic of these reports is that they present a series of claims, presented as facts, between which cause-effect relationships are established, without providing any credible evidence.