According to a statement from his office, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced on Sunday, August 27, that he had met with his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Mangoush at an “unprecedented” meeting in Rome last week. “I spoke to the Secretary of State about the great potential of the relationship between the two countries,” said Eli Cohen.
He added that he discussed with Najla al-Mangoush “the importance of preserving the legacy of Libyan Jewry through the repair of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries in this country.” This is a “first step in relations between Israel and Libya,” said the minister. “Libya’s size and strategic location present a great opportunity for the State of Israel,” he said.
According to the statement, the meeting took place under the auspices of Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. In Tripoli, the UN-recognized government of Abdelhamid Dbeibah did not respond to the announcement.
Libya, which has descended into chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, has no diplomatic ties with Israel. The majority of Libya’s Jewish population left the country in the twenty years following World War II, mainly to go to Israel.
At the time of Muammar Gaddafi’s attempted coup in 1969, a few hundred Jews were still living in the country, who then expelled them, confiscated their property and destroyed synagogues. Israel has normalized its relations with certain Arab countries in recent years under the Abraham Accords under the auspices of the United States. However, the current policies of the Netanyahu government have been criticized by Arab countries following the spate of violence in the occupied West Bank and the ongoing colonization in that area.