Cohen-Libyan FM meeting 'coordinated at highest levels': Israeli media
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The head of Israeli opposition slams Eli Cohen's disclosure of the meeting that damaged international 'trust' in the Israeli entity.
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Libyans burn the Israeli occupation flag showing a picture of Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Mangoush in Tripoli, Libya, on August 27, 2023 (AFP)
The meeting that took place between Libyan Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush and her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen was “coordinated at the highest levels,” Israeli media said on Monday, adding that the details of the meeting were planned to be published.
The Libyan government "has an interest in contacting Israel," the media claimed, pointing out that this matter "advances its [Libyan] relations with the West as well."
According to Haaretz newspaper, Libyan authorities called on the occupation entity to delete the meeting announcement, "but it was too late".
Israeli media revealed on Sunday that Cohen and al-Mangoush held a clandestine meeting in Italy mid of August, to explore possibilities for the normalization of relations between Tripoli and "Tel Aviv".
The announcement triggered mass public outrage in Tripoli of Libyans rejecting normalization attempts with the occupation entity, during which citizens burnt the Israeli flag and pictures of both al-Mangoush and Cohen.
Tripoli's government suspended al-Mangoush from her role as foreign minister and opened a probe against her. But the shamed former top diplomat escaped the country with local reports stating that she fled to Turkey.
Read more: Libyans burn Israeli flag in protest of normalization meeting
Yair Lapid, the head of the Israeli opposition, expressed his concerns that the meeting was disclosed by the Israeli government.
“The global community is looking this morning at Israel’s irresponsible leak of the Libya foreign ministers meeting," he said, adding that world countries are asking themselves today whether they can conduct foreign relations with the entity, or if they can trust it.
The news publication is "amateurish, irresponsible, and reflected a serious failure of judgment."
Read more: PIJ condemns Libya-'Israel' normalization meeting
🇱🇾🇮🇱 Protests erupt in Libya over contact with Israel
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) August 28, 2023
Following reports of the informal meeting between Libya Tripoli government's foreign minister and Israel counterpart, protests broke out in the capital Tripoli and some other cities.
Roads were blocked, tires burnt and… pic.twitter.com/xGLlL4N5zP
Political analyst at Walla news website Barak Ravid echoed Lapid's sentiment, blaming Cohen for the outcome of announcing the meeting.
"Libya is not a country that operates conventionally, but rather it has two governments at best," he said, adding that "Cohen met with the foreign minister of one of these governments and succeeded in causing the problem within days."
Not only was she "removed from her position, but according to reports from Libya, she fled because of the threats she was subjected to," he continued.
"This is related to what we have seen in the past six months, the desire and focus of two hundred percent in the headlines of the media and domestic politics at the expense of Israel's foreign relations," Ravid said.
"What happened with the Libyan foreign minister caused enormous harm to Israel."
"Many Arab countries will look at him [Cohen] from now on as a suspicious individual," Ravid concluded.
Libyan Internal Security Agency stated in a statement late Sunday that it did not facilitate al-Mangoush's escape, stressing that she "did not pass through the [airport's] ordinary, private, or presidential halls as per the normal process."
