Libyan foreign minister suspended after meeting with Israel

Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush has been suspended and referred for investigation after meeting with Israeli Foreign minister Eli Cohen.

Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush was suspended and put under investigation on Sunday after she met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Italy last week.

She was sent the suspension notice in a letter signed by the head of Libya’s Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah. Mangoush and Cohen met despite the two countries not having formal relations, Israel said on Sunday, adding that the ministers discussed possible cooperation.

“The historic meeting with the foreign minister of Libya… is the first step in [building] the relationship between Israel and Libya,” Cohen said.

The face-to-face conversation, which took place last week but the details of which were published only on Sunday, is part of Israel’s effort to forge new diplomatic relations with countries.

“We are working with a series of countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia with the aim of expanding Israel’s circle of peace and normalization,” Cohen stated.

On the Mediterranean coast, Libya is the fourth largest country on the African continent, with a population of some six million. In the past year, it produced about 1.2 million barrels of oil a day.

Jewish history in that country dates back as far as the time of King Solomon, but the Jewish community was decimated in modern times as its members fled persecution, particularly in the second half of the 20th century.

“Libya’s size and strategic location provide vast value and enormous potential for the State of Israel,” Cohen said. “I spoke with the foreign minister about the great potential relations between the two countries would bear, as well as the importance of preserving the heritage of Libyan Jewry, which includes renovating synagogues and Jewish cemeteries in the country,” Cohen said.
The two foreign ministers also discussed cooperation in agriculture and water technology.

Past communications between Libya and Israel

While this is the first time that an Israeli-Libyan meeting has occurred at the foreign ministerial level, it is not the first time that high-level Israeli and Libyan officials have reportedly spoken.

There were reports in January 2022 that Mossad Director David Barnea and Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Mohammed al-Dabaiba met in Jordan to discuss normalization and security cooperation. Although the meeting was publicized by Saudi Arabian and Libyan media outlets, Dabaiba later denied the meeting.

Separately that same month, a plane belonging to the commander of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, reportedly landed in Israel from Cyprus and then left.