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Israel-Libya scandal: Netanyahu orders ministries to get his OK for secret talks

Wednesday, 30 August 2023 10:08 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 30 August 2023 10:11 AM ]

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a special session of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, to approve and swear in a new right-wing cabinet, on December 29, 2022. (Photo by Reuters)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a directive that requires his office to approve all covert political talks in advance amid uproar over the disclosure of an unprecedented meeting between top Israeli and Libyan diplomats.

Netanyahu’s spokesman, Topaz Luk, said on Tuesday that in addition to prior approval, the order also mandated the Israeli premier personally allow the publication of news on secret meetings.

Netanyahu, he added, issued the order in response to the fallout from a revelation by Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen about a meeting with his Libyan counterpart, Najla al-Mangoush, despite the two sides not having formal relations.

In a press statement released on Sunday, Cohen announced that the “historic” sit-down took place in Rome last week.

In the aftermath, Libya’s Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah dismissed Mangoush, who fled the North African country out of concern for her safety in the wake of street protests.

Libya suspends foreign minister over Israeli talks amid angry protests

Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah says he has suspended the North African country’s top diplomat after Israel

Israeli opposition and coalition figures also lashed out at Cohen for damaging the regime’s foreign ties and endangering the Libyan foreign minister.

Israeli FM blames row on ‘political opponents’

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Cohen blasted “political opponents who have not advanced any significant achievement” in their “rush to react without knowing the details.”

He said the Israeli foreign ministry “works regularly through overt and covert channels, and in a variety of secret ways to strengthen Israel’s connections in the world.”

Reports say the United States is furious with Tel Aviv for revealing the secret meeting.

The Walla news site reported that US President Joe Biden was aware of the sit-in and encouraged Libya to attend, but was under the impression that it was secret and would remain so.

A US official said Cohen’s revelation “killed” the conversation channel with Libya about possibly normalizing ties with Israel.

In late 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco signed normalization deals, brokered by the administration of the then-US president Donald Trump, with the Israeli regime. The deals were condemned by Palestinians as a “betrayal” of their cause.

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