This weekend, the Biden administration protested to the Israeli government over the Israeli foreign minister’s decision to reveal a secret meeting he had recently held with his Libyan counterpart, an Israeli official and two US officials told Axios.
The Biden administration worries that exposing the meeting and the ensuing turmoil will not only kill efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Libya, but will also harm ongoing efforts with other Arab countries, as well as US national security interests, one US official told MEE.
Axios quoted an informed official as saying that the Biden administration understood that the meeting between Cohen and Mangoush was supposed to be a secret meeting, and the officials were surprised when Cohen revealed it in an official press release.
An aide to Cohen, speaking to Axios, claimed that there was an understanding during the meeting that the matter would eventually become public.
But a US official said the Libyans did not intend for the meeting to become public.
The Israeli and US officials said US officials spoke to Cohen and other Israeli Foreign Ministry officials on Sunday and protested Israel’s handling of the case.
The sources told the website that Cohen told the US officials that he decided to issue the statement after Israeli media contacted him to comment on the meeting.
Even if there had been a leak, a US official said, Cohen would have declined to comment.
The dismissal of the Libyan Foreign Minister
On Monday, Libyan media reported, quoting a government source, that Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush had been dismissed, on the grounds of her meeting with her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen.
Reuters quoted a government source as saying, “The head of the Libyan National Unity Government, Abdul Hamid al-Dibiya, dismissed the foreign minister, on the grounds of her meeting with her Israeli counterpart.
Earlier, Al-Dabaiba referred Al-Mangoush for investigation because of the meeting, which was the first ever between senior diplomats in Libya and Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Najla al-Mangoush met in Rome last week.
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2023-08-28 18:04:59
