Sun, August 27, 2023
Tyres were burnt as protests broke out in the capital Tripoli
Libya's PM has suspended his foreign minister after she met informally with her Israeli counterpart.
Libya does not recognise Israel, as Tripoli backs the Palestinian cause, and the meeting has sparked protests.
Israel's Eli Cohen described the meeting with Najla al-Mangoush as a historic first step in establishing relations.
Israel is trying to build closer ties with more Arab and Muslim-majority countries, such as oil-rich Libya.
However Libya's presidential council, which represents its three provinces, said it was illegal to normalise relations with Israel.
The Speaker's Office in parliament has accused Ms Mangoush of grand treason, and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has referred her for investigation.
Mr Cohen said he met Ms Mangoush by chance last week on the sidelines of a summit in Rome, and they discussed "the great potential for the relations between the two countries".
He said they talked about Israeli aid in humanitarian issues, agriculture, water management and the importance of preserving Jewish heritage in Libya, including renovating synagogues and cemeteries.
Libya's foreign ministry said Ms Mangoush had rejected a meeting with representatives from Israel, and what had taken place was "an unprepared, casual encounter during a meeting at Italy's foreign affairs ministry".
A statement also said the interaction did not include "any discussions, agreements or consultations" and the ministry "renews its complete and absolute rejection of normalisation" with Israel.
Protests broke out in the capital Tripoli and some other cities following news of the meeting. Roads were blocked, tyres burnt and demonstrators waved the Palestinian flag, though the protests appear to have been relatively small.
Libya has been in turmoil for years, with the country split between the interim, internationally recognised government in Tripoli and a rival one in the east.
Should any deal between Israel and Libya be brokered, it would be complicated by that political division, which has existed since the overthrow of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi 12 years ago.
Gen Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army (LNA) runs the rival government in the eastern coastal city of Tobruk.
Israel's charm offensive began under the 2020 Abraham Accords, which seek to get countries which are hostile to Israel to recognise its sovereignty and establish diplomatic relations.
So far, Israel has done this with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. However, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticised for West Bank settlement construction and military raids on suspected militant strongholds in the occupied Palestinian territories.
On Sunday evening, Libya's Presidential Council requested "clarification" from the government over what had happened. The Presidential Council carries out the functions of head of state and is in charge of the country's military.
A letter from the body said the meeting between the two foreign ministers "does not reflect the foreign policy of the Libyan state, does not represent the Libyan national constants and is considered a violation of Libyan laws which criminalise normalisation with the 'Zionist entity'".
It also asked Mr Dbeibah "to apply the law if the meeting took place".
Under Gaddafi, who was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, thousands of Jews were expelled from Libya and many synagogues were destroyed.
Sun, August 27, 2023
Libya's foreign ministry said Najla al-Mangoush's meeting with her Israeli counterpart was a 'chance and unofficial encounter' (YASSER AL-ZAYYAT)
The leader of Libya's government said Sunday that he had suspended his foreign minister after her Israeli counterpart announced he had held talks with her last week in Rome.
Najla al-Mangoush has been "temporarily suspended" and will be subject to an "administrative investigation" by a commission chaired by the justice minister, Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said on Sunday evening in an official decision posted on Facebook.
The Libyan foreign ministry described it as a "chance and unofficial encounter", but news of the meeting had already led to street protests in several Libyan cities.
The political row broke out Sunday after Israel's foreign ministry said the two countries' foreign ministers had met the previous week.
The statement said Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Mangoush, his Libyan counterpart in the Tripoli-based administration, spoke at a meeting in Rome hosted by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
The Israeli statement described it as the first such diplomatic initiative between the two countries.
"I spoke with the foreign minister about the great potential for the two countries from their relations," Cohen said in the statement from Israel's foreign ministry.
But the Libyan foreign ministry said Sunday evening that Mangoush had "refused to meet with any party" representing Israel.
"What happened in Rome was a chance and unofficial encounter, during a meeting with his Italian counterpart, which did not involve any discussion, agreement or consultation," the ministry said in a statement.
The minister had reiterated "in a clear and unambiguous manner Libya's position regarding the Palestinian cause", the statement added.
News of the meeting had sparked protests in some Libyan cities and a letter from the country's Presidential Council requesting clarification.
The Libyan foreign ministry accused Israel of trying to "present this incident" as a "meeting or talks".
In the Israel foreign ministry statement, Cohen was quoted as saying that the two discussed "the importance of preserving the heritage of Libyan Jews, which includes renovating synagogues and Jewish cemeteries in the country".
"Libya's size and strategic location offer a huge opportunity for the State of Israel," he added.
There was no immediate confirmation of the meeting from Rome.
- Street protests -
Earlier on Sunday evening, Libya's Presidential Council requested "clarifications" from the government, according to Libya al-Ahrar TV, citing correspondence from spokeswoman Najwa Wheba.
The Presidential Council, which has some executive powers and sprang from the UN-backed political process, includes three members representing the three Libyan provinces.
The letter said that this development "does not reflect the foreign policy of the Libyan state, does not represent the Libyan national constants and is considered a violation of Libyan laws which criminalise normalisation with the 'Zionist entity'".
It asked the head of government "to apply the law if the meeting took place".
On the streets of Tripoli and its suburbs, protests erupted Sunday evening in a sign of refusal of normalisation with Israel. The protests spread to other cities where young people blocked roads, burned tyres and waved the Palestinian flag.
Like several other North African countries, Libya has a rich Jewish heritage.
But during decades of rule by former Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, who was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, thousands of Jews were expelled from Libya and many synagogues were destroyed.
Kadhafi was overthrown and killed in 2011 by a NATO-backed uprising that plunged the country into more than a decade of chaos and lawlessness.
The country is split politically with rival administrations -- the Tripoli government in the west and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Israel has normalised relations with some Arab countries in recent years as part of US-backed deals known as the Abraham Accords.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline government has come under intense criticism from Arab states because of surging violence in the West Bank and for backing the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied territory.
jd/jj/bfm
Israel Foreign Minister Makes History Meeting Libyan Counterpart
Gwen Ackerman and Galit Altstein
Sun, August 27, 2023
(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen held a historical meeting last week in Rome with his Libyan counterpart, Najla Mangoush, the ministry said in a statement, lifting a blackout on publication of the news.
“The meeting is the first step in the relationship between Israel and Libya,” Cohen said. “The size and strategic location of Libya give ties with it great importance and enormous potential.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to expand Israel’s ties with Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries. Particular focus has been on Saudi Arabia, especially after relations with the the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco were normalized in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
Cohen raised with the Libyan minister the need to preserve the heritage of Libyan Jews, nearly all of whom immigrated to Israel in the 1950s, and the renovation of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries in Libya, the statement added.
Manghoush is foreign minister under the Tripoli-based government, while a rival authority is based in the east of the nation. Repeated international efforts, driven largely by the United Nations, have failed to result in a unified government, though some headway was made when the central bank earlier this month said it was re-unifying.
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