Peace talks between Israel and Libya collapsed after news of negotiations was released and the Libyan government fired its foreign minister, who reportedly fled to exile in Turkey as U.S. and Israeli diplomats struggled to save face.
Israel formally revealed that Foreign Minister Eli Cohen had met Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush last week in Italy, discussing potential areas of economic cooperation and the preservation of Jewish historic sites.
Libya’s Jewish community fled from persecution in the mid-20th century, both before and after the establishment of the State of Israel, and the last Jew in Libya died in 2022, though Muammar Gaddafi was rumored to be Jewish.
Israel’s announcement caused a political uproar in Libya, which does not have formal diplomatic ties to Israel, and which officially has a strident anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian policy. Mangoush was fired and reportedly fled.
Despite the controversy, secret contacts between Israel and Libya’s post-Gaddafi government are said to have been ongoing for years. Israel has long been seeking peace and normal relations with its Arab and Muslim neighbors.
The Times of Israel reported that the U.S. rebuked the Israeli government for revealing the talks, since doing so scuttled them. The Abraham Accords, launched by President Donald Trump, have stalled under President Joe Biden.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to calm the crisis by stating that all back-channel diplomatic meetings would have to be approved by his office in future.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.