<img src="https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/28/0/0/4032/3024/664/0/75/0/10cc116_2023-08-28t084008z-160271462-rc2ww2aomt72-rtrmadp-3-israel-libya-diplomacy.JPG" srcset=" https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/28/0/0/4032/3024/556/0/75/0/10cc116_2023-08-28t084008z-160271462-rc2ww2aomt72-rtrmadp-3-israel-libya-diplomacy.JPG 556w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/28/0/0/4032/3024/600/0/75/0/10cc116_2023-08-28t084008z-160271462-rc2ww2aomt72-rtrmadp-3-israel-libya-diplomacy.JPG 600w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/28/0/0/4032/3024/664/0/75/0/10cc116_2023-08-28t084008z-160271462-rc2ww2aomt72-rtrmadp-3-israel-libya-diplomacy.JPG 664w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/28/0/0/4032/3024/700/0/75/0/10cc116_2023-08-28t084008z-160271462-rc2ww2aomt72-rtrmadp-3-israel-libya-diplomacy.JPG 700w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/28/0/0/4032/3024/800/0/75/0/10cc116_2023-08-28t084008z-160271462-rc2ww2aomt72-rtrmadp-3-israel-libya-diplomacy.JPG 800w" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 556px, 100vw" alt="Angry demonstration outside the Libyan Foreign Ministry in Tripoli on August 27, 2023, following the " chance"="" meeting="" in="" rome="" the="" day="" before="" between="" libyan="" foreign="" minister="" najla="" al-mangoush="" and="" her="" israeli="" counterpart="" eli="" cohen."="" width="100%" height="auto">
Roads had been blocked, tires burned and the prime minister's home attacked. In Libya, the announcement on Sunday, August 28, of a meeting between Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Al-Mangoush and her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen provoked incendiary reactions. The enthusiastic press release from Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs echoed the news of a "groundbreaking" meeting in Rome last week aimed at "examining possibilities for cooperation and relations between the countries and the preservation of the heritage of the Libyan Jewish community."
But the meeting, kept secret in Tripoli, did not go down well in Libya, a country that does not recognize the existence of Israel and where normalizing relations with the Jewish state is punishable by criminal sanctions. The news caused quite a stir. On Sunday afternoon, the Libyan Presidential Council asked the head of the national unity government, Abdelhamid Dbeibah, for "clarification" on the meeting, pointing out that it "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 criminalize normalization with the 'Zionist entity.'" The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quick to respond, pleading "a chance and unofficial encounter during a meeting with Italy’s foreign minister," which did not involve any "talks, agreements or consultation."
Whatever the details, the answer was not convincing. A crowd of demonstrators gathered in front of the ministry's offices in Tripoli in the evening to demand "the fall of the government." Further east, other groups formed and set fire to the residence of Prime Minister Dbeibah. In Tajoura, Zaouïa and several other large towns in western Libya, numerous demonstrations were organized. Cornered, the prime minister finally decided overnight to suspend Mangoush from her duties and announced that she would face an "administrative investigation." The deposed minister has since fled to Turkey aboard a private jet, according to the Libyan press.
By blaming his foreign minister, Dbeibah is pleading ignorance of such a meeting and using her as a "scapegoat," according to Jalel Harchaoui, associate researcher at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. There is "no doubt" that the prime minister was aware of the meeting, a fact confirmed by two Libyan officials speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press. "Dbeibah has already sent signals of his willingness to talk to Israel," the researcher observed, pointing out that the prime minister, whose official term expired in December 2021, is "actively seeking to please foreign nations" to keep himself in power.
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