Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met with Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush last week in Italy in the first-ever such meeting between the countries’ foreign ministers, the Foreign Ministry revealed on Sunday.
The meeting aimed to examine the possibilities for cooperation and relations between the two countries, as well as the preservation of the heritage of Libyan Jewry.
“The historic meeting with the foreign minister of Libya, Najala Mangoush, is the first step in the relationship between Israel and Libya,” said Cohen. “The size and strategic location of Libya give ties with it enormous importance and enormous potential for the State of Israel. We are working with a series of countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia with the aim of expanding the circle of peace and normalization of Israel.”
The meeting was hosted by Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in Rome.
The Libyan Foreign Ministry had not commented on the meeting as of Sunday afternoon.
A member of the Security personnel affiliated with the Ministry of Interior secures the street after yesterday’s clashes between armed factions in Tripoli, Libya, August 16, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/HAZEM AHMED)Past communications between Libya and Israel
In January of last year, a private jet belonging to Libyan warlord and presidential candidate Khalifa Haftar landed in Israel. Haftar is the head of the Libyan National Army, which fought a civil war against the North African state’s internationally recognized government in 2014-2020.
His apparent visit to Israel came days after Saudi and Libyan media reported that Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Mohammed Dbeibeh, a rival of Haftar, had met with Mossad director David Barnea in Jordan to discuss normalization with Israel.
Libya has had little peace or security since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising and it split in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions. Though major warfare paused after a 2020 ceasefire, there is little trust between the main factional leaders.
Libya’s internationally recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, of which Mangoush is a member, has not been accepted by the eastern-based parliament since early 2021 after a failed attempt to have national elections.
Reuters and Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.
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