Libya’s Prime Minister Fires Top Diplomat for Meeting With Israeli Counterpart

Latest Developments

Libya’s prime minister fired his top diplomat on August 28 for meeting with her Israeli counterpart last week. News of the meeting had earlier set off protests in several cities in Libya, which has no relations with Israel and where pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong.

Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah’s termination of Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush after her encounter with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen came despite claims by senior Libyan officials that Dbeibah approved the talks in advance. That account appeared corroborated by an Israeli official, who said the meeting — which lasted almost two hours — had been coordinated “at the highest levels” in Tripoli. Mangoush fled Libya for Turkey after news of the meeting leaked to an Israeli news site. According to Israeli officials, Cohen’s staff was not responsible for the leak.

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas praised the Libyan demonstrators. Libya has been riven by infighting since the 2011 NATO-backed intervention that led to the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. Installed in 2021, Dbeibah’s government has sought closer ties with the United States and the United Arab Emirates, an Israeli regional security partner.

Expert Analysis

“It would appear that Dbeibah sent his foreign minister to explore rapprochement with Israel and, when the public price proved too high, threw her under the bus. Such a high-level meeting, hosted by Italy, is unlikely to have been an act of rogue statecraft. While this can be seen as a lesson in the perils of engaging a country like Libya, which is still in the grip of political vigilantism, there is some cold comfort, perhaps, in the fact that the Abraham Accords are maintaining their allure beyond the current circle of peace.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“Leaks are, for better or worse, one of the costs of doing business with Israel. That said, the fallout from this meeting is political theater. The number of Arab states that meet privately with Israelis and then condemn Israel publicly continues to grow.” — Jonathan Schanzer, FDD Senior Vice President for Research