Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh sacked on Monday, 28 August 2023 the Foreign Minister Najla Al-Mangoush for meeting the Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
The move came one day after Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that he had met with Al-Mangoush in Rome, Italy, last week.
Dbeibeh took the decision to sack Al-Mangoush during his meeting with Palestinian Ambassador Mohammad Rahhal at the Palestinian Embassy in Tripoli, saying that Al-Mangoush’s action “does not represent the position of the Libyan government and the people.”
“We affirm the depth of the Palestinian-Libyan relations and the Libyans reject any normalization with the Israeli occupation.”, added Dbeibeh
Mangoush had said that her meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Rome was unplanned and informal.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, the meeting was “coordinated at the highest level” between the two countries and took place with the knowledge of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The first Israeli-Libyan foreign ministers’ meeting ignited anger and protests among the Libyans.
Raising Palestinian flags, Libyans demonstrated in front of Libya’s Foreign Ministry late on Sunday, causing some damage outside the building. Protests took place in other parts of Tripoli, as well as other cities.
Israeli site of Walla reported that the United States passed an angry message to Israel after the disclosure of Cohen and Mangoush’s meeting, considering the leaking of the meeting was “destructive to peace efforts.”
It is worth noting that North African country does not recognize Israel and does not have diplomatic relations with the Israeli regime as the law forbids recognizing Israel.
Since 1979, Six Arab countries normalized ties with Israeli apartheid forming with Egypt, Jordan in 1994, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco in 2020 through the so-called “Abraham Accords” brokered by the United States.
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