The secret meeting between Israel’s Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, and Libya’s, Najla Mangoush, was to mark a turning point on the road, long and at the expense of the unstable situation in the divided African country, towards the normalization of relations. . But the leak of the meeting held last week in Rome has destroyed the bridge built after intense shadow contacts, damaged Israel’s diplomacy and caused protests in Libya and the decision of the Tripoli government to investigate and remove Mangoush. After the announcement, the leader, who would not have attended the dramatic appointment without the green light from her prime minister, Abdulhamid Dbeibah, traveled to Turkey on a flight organized by security organizations in the face of heated spirits, according to Arab media.
If Mangoush faces death threats, Cohen deals with criticism in Israel that in an unprecedented way is shared in the government and the opposition after making public “the historic meeting between the foreign ministers of Israel and Libya.” “Cohen has done very severe damage to Israel,” lament sources from Benjamin Netanyahu’s executive, alluding to future relations normalization agreements. “Countries look at the irresponsible leak of the meeting and ask themselves: Is this a country you can trust?” denounces former prime minister and opposition leader Yair Lapid, who accuses his successor at the head of diplomacy. of thinking only about achieving “a headline in the media”. According to the centrist leader, “it is an irresponsible and amateur act.”
The great fear of leaders of countries that do not have relations with Israel is that their meetings with the “enemy” will come to light. Not only because their lives go from being peaceful to being in danger, but because they blow up roads created with a lot of sweat, maximum discretion and common interests. It is no coincidence that Arab leaders who do not publicly acknowledge the existence of Israel prefer to talk in the shadows with high-ranking foreign officials or the Mossad rather than with politicians. His nightmare is to see his photo next to his Israeli counterpart in the Hebrew press, and even worse, in the Arab one.
Cohen replies that he was not the first to leak the news and points out that the Libyan government knew in advance of the meeting that lasted almost two hours under the mediation and auspices of Italy. In their environment they hope that “the storm passes and contacts resume because the Libyan interest remains the same, to get closer to the US and the West.”
Under strong criticism encouraged by opponents and rivals, the Tripoli government flatly denies the summit as presented by Cohen. “What happened in Rome was a fortuitous and unofficial meeting during a meeting with his Italian counterpart (Antonio Tajani), which did not include any discussion, agreement or consultation,” the Foreign Ministry reported, recalling that its minister reiterated before the Israeli representative “clearly and unambiguously Libya’s position regarding the Palestinian cause.” Libya maintains that it continues to oppose any meeting with representatives of what it calls a “Zionist entity.” However, for years Libyan leaders have maintained shadow contacts with Israel through Mossad and the National Security Council to explore the possibility of a normalization of relations in exchange for help in matters of intelligence, technology and security.
The US fears that this case will increase instability in Libya, harm the government it supports and at the same time pierce the incipient Libyan-Israeli channel and raise doubts in the more consolidated and commented Saudi-Israeli channel. “In addition to ending the Israeli-Libyan channel for dialogue, the announcement hampers our efforts to promote the normalization of Israel’s relations with other countries,” alerted US sources quoted by the Walla website with an anger shared by the Mossad.
Officials of the Libyan Government of National Unity, installed in 2021 in a process supported by the UN, admit that in the meeting last January in Tripoli, the head of the CIA, William Burns, raised with Dbeibah the scenario of relations with Israel joining the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan under the umbrella of the Abraham Accords of 2020. Cited by the AP agency, they point out that the Libyan leader saw it with good eyes but revealed his fear, confirmed these days, to the reaction in his country due to the traditional support for the Palestinian cause.
The angry protests in Libya that included breaking into the Foreign Office, burning Israeli flags and shouting “no, no, no to normalization (with Israel)!” and against Mangoush they arrived hours after the announcement of the chancery in Jerusalem. “Minister Eli Cohen met last week in Italy with Minister Najla Mangoush. This is the first meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries with the aim of examining the possibilities of cooperation and relations between the countries and the preservation of the heritage of Libyan Jews,” read the statement released on Sunday afternoon.
“Libya’s size and strategic location give contacts with it enormous importance. I spoke with the minister about the great potential that relations confer on the two countries (…) We work with a number of countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia with the aim of expanding the circle of peace and normalization of relations with Israel,” added Cohen, monopolizing mobile alerts with the unexpected news of the meeting with the representative of the country ruled for decades by one of its great enemies, the dictator Muammar Gaddafi. But as anger mounted in Tripoli, praise turned to Libyan denial and internal criticism.
Cohen’s hyperactivity as Foreign Minister and his ambition for immediate success is due to the schedule that forces him to do everything quickly and in the media. In December, he will leave the position to the Minister of Energy, Israel Katz, to occupy it again in the last stretch of the legislature. This is how Netanyahu decided to please his two Likud comrades when he formed a government eight months ago after the November 1 elections. But Cohen’s diplomatic work does not cover the two main issues on Israel’s international agenda. Vital relations with the US (deteriorated by the position of the new ultra-conservative Israeli executive in the conflict with the Palestinians and the judicial reform plan) and the attempt to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia are under the responsibility of Netanyahu and his closest minister. , Ron Dermer.
