Uproar over Libya-Israel meeting shows limits of regional normalization

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.