A botched push for improved Libya-Israeli relations will chill their covert ties while potentially fueling instability in Libya as opposition groups use the scandal to undermine the Tripoli-based government. On Aug. 28, Libya's internationally recognized Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah fired Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush for meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Italy the preceding week. The firing took place after Israel's Foreign Ministry published a statement confirming the meeting on Aug. 27, causing an uproar in Libya and sparking protests in cities including Tripoli, Misrata and Zintan. Libya's House of Representatives, which supports Libya's Benghazi-based rival governing faction, also slammed the move, while at least one Islamist politician in Tripoli called for the dismissal of Dbeibah's government. According to Israeli media, the meeting between Mangoush and Cohen focused on areas of cooperation for the preservation of Jewish heritage sites in Libya, Israeli aid for Libyan agriculture, water ...

“It was in the 2000s and early 2010s, when Colonel Gaddafi was still in power,” said Ben Attiya, 62, head of the city’s Libyan Jewish congregation, called Or Shalom. They have hurt us greatly, but we Libyan Jews have become a success story in Israel,” said Netanya’s Daniel Mimun, 77, who fled Libya for Italy in 1967 with his family before later moving to Israel. To visit, but not to returnDespite the bad memories, some Libyan Jews are interested in ties with Tripoli, especially as it may allow the community to preserve its heritage sites. There is also a Jewish-Arabic dialect spoken by Libyan Jews, which is used in a magazine put out by the Or Shalom community. ‘We cannot forget their cruelty’Other Libyan Jews reacted with less enthusiasm to the news of high-level Israeli-Libyan contacts, or with outright rejection.

When the Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen ran to tell everyone under the sun about his meeting with his Libyan counterpart Najla Mangoush, he probably hadn’t imagined that it would result in Mangoush being suspended and having to flee her country to Turkey. It appears that for the moment, despite Cohen’s celebratory announcement, Libya is still far from normalizing its relations with Israel.

Cohen’s X post followed a statement earlier in the day from the Foreign Ministry denying that it was the source of the leak. The Foreign Ministry on Sunday revealed the meeting between Cohen and Mangoush. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, Israel’s previous prime minister and foreign minister, had harsh words on Monday for Cohen’s handling of the diplomatic exchange. The incident with the Libyan foreign minister is amateurish, irresponsible and a serious failure of judgment. In his X post, Cohen defended the work of the Foreign Ministry since he took over from Lapid at the end of last year.

ArrowRight Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced Sunday that he had met secretly in Italy last week with Najla el-Mangoush, foreign minister for Libya’s Tripoli-based government, touting “the great potential for relations” between the two countries. For Israel, the meeting with Libya’s top diplomat represented the latest milestone in its effort, facilitated by the United States, to establish diplomatic ties with once-hostile Middle Eastern countries. Libya's prime minister fired the country's foreign minister on Aug. 28, in an effort to contain growing anger after she met with her Israeli counterpart. In the past, normalization agreements between Israel and Arab countries were preceded by years of unofficial, underground connections. “If the U.S. has really been pushing that government toward normalization, this is clearly a strategic mistake.”Hendrix reported from Jerusalem.

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Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wanted the meeting to be publicized straight away, but the Libyans asked for more time. The Libyans rejected it and Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush was fired, bringing an end, for the moment, to the diplomatic channel with Israel. Why did the Israeli Foreign Ministry issue the statement in the first place? “A journalist had info on the meeting and was about to publish it, so we had no choice,” Israeli officials told JNS. Yesterday, Stephanie Hallett, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Israel, met with Foreign Minister Cohen and criticized Israel’s conduct.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized control of Israel’s back-channel diplomacy after the incident with Tripoli in which Foreign Minister Eli Cohen prematurely published information about a secret meeting with his Libyan counterpart. On Tuesday, Netanyahu declared that all secret diplomatic meetings by any government ministry must be approved by his office in advance. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on March 13, 2023. Mangoush who was fired for meeting Cohen, fled to Turkey on Monday and has reportedly continued on from there to London. He continued, adding that what is “happening today in the Foreign Ministry is very sad.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drastically curtailed the ability of government ministers to conduct diplomatic business independently, days after a blunder by Israel’s Foreign Minister caused a backlash in Libya. The announcement of the meeting – the first of its kind between foreign ministers from the two countries – caused riots in Libya and stern rejections from senior Libyan officials. Soon after Mr Cohen’s announcement, Libya’s Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, who heads the Government of National Unity, fired Ms Mangoush. Violent protests in Libya followed Mr Cohen's statement, with protesters torching Israeli flags, tyres and even Mr Dbeibeh’s home. Ms Mangoush represented the UN-recognised government based in Tripoli and was the first woman to take on the position of Foreign Minister.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — A private burial was held for Yevgeny Prigozhin, ending a tumultuous journey from St. Petersburg street thug to Kremlin-financed mercenary leader, following a suspicious plane crash two months after his brief mutiny that challenged the authority of President Vladimir Putin. Russian media cited unidentified sources as saying Prigozhin was laid to rest Tuesday without any publicity, per his family's wishes. Just before the crash, Prigozhin had reportedly returned from a trip to Africa, where he sought to expand Wagner Group’s activities. The crash came exactly two months after the brutal and profane mercenary boss launched a rebellion against the Russian military leadership. Putin said Wagner fighters could sign a contract with the Russian military, move to Belarus or retire from service.

The U.S., U.K., and Qatar had facilitated a meeting between Libyan and Israeli officials in Vienna in 2004. Yet the United States pressed Libyan leaders to find a way to normalize relations with Israel. Doubling down on the dishonesty, Israeli officials claimed that the Americans did not protest Cohen’s actions. Israel, in endangering Libyan officials and threatening to spark unrest, was acting with characteristic bad faith. The United States, however, is ultimately responsible, again, for risking lives in Libya.

Al-Ahrar private news channel, citing a government source, said Mangoush had been fired following a meeting last week in Rome with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. AdvertisementThe Libyan foreign ministry, in a statement, defended the meeting with Cohen as a “chance and unofficial encounter”. Tyres burn on the road as people protest against a meeting held last week in Italy between the foreign ministers of Libya and Israel, in Tripoli, Libya on Monday. They “have used Libya’s first female foreign minister as the fall person for decisions they all partook in,” Gomati said. The meeting in Rome had been hosted by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the Israeli foreign ministry said.

U.S., Arab Diplomats: Turmoil in Libya After Israeli Minister Meeting Could Deter Arab Countries From NormalizationAs Israel works to expand its relations with Arab and Muslim countries, one senior diplomat warned that 'No leader wants to images like those [from Libya] in his capital' ■ Israeli foreign minister blames 'political opponents,' says his office will not be deterred from establishing ties with the Arab world

Najla Mangoush, Libya's foreign minister, has fled to Turkey after being fired for meeting with her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, in Italy last week. "She has fled to Turkey," the House of Representatives source said, sharing with The National a screenshot of the flight path that Ms Mangoush took. People burn photos showing Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his Libyan counterpart Najla Mangoush in Tripoli, Libya on Sunday. After news of the meeting emerged, Libya's Foreign Ministry also reaffirmed the country's support for the Palestinian issue "emphasising Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Palestine". Ms Mangoush represents the UN-recognised government based in Tripoli and is the first woman to take on the position of Foreign Minister.