JERUSALEM: Conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed his egrets over the disclosure of a meeting by the foreign minister with Libyan counterpart in Rome, Western media reported on Sunday.
Israeli Foreign Minister’s office on August 26 stated that a meeting between Eli Cohen and Libyan foreign minister Najla Mangoush was held in Rome in Italy earlier in the month.
Netanyahu has said that such meetings must be approved in advance with his office.
The news caused a backlash in Libya and the Prime Minister of Libya Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah had to fire Najla Mangoush to bring down the political temperature.
Fact finding mission to probe Libya FM meeting with Israeli counterpart
Meanwhile Libya’s chief prosecutor has said he would form a fact-finding mission to investigate a meeting between the two foreign ministers.
Earlier in a letter written to the Prime Minister, Libya’s Presidential Council had stated the meeting was against principles of the foreign policy of Libya and is an open violation of Libyan laws.
Read Also: Libya’s Chief Prosecutor Seeks More Details on FM’s Meeting with Israel’s Minister
Libya criminalizes normalizing ties with Israel as per a 1957 law. The country has long been supportive of the Palestinians.
Mangoush’s office had tried to clarify its position saying she had refused a request for an official meeting with Cohen, but they had an unplanned encounter while meeting Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
