The Libyan Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, has revealed more details about the meeting between the suspended Foreign Minister Najla Al-Mangoush, and former Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, in Italy, which caused a nationwide crisis in Libya.
In an interview on the Atheer podcast of Al Jazeera Network, Dbeibah confirmed that Libya had not had a relationship with Israel historically since its establishment and that the Libyan people would not have a relationship with Israel unless the rights of the Palestinian people were restored.
"Even the suspended Foreign Minister, spontaneously and due to her living time abroad took the step of meeting and did not intend to open any file or normalization. But this is also considered a big mistake.” Dbeibah said.
Regarding whether or not Al-Mangoush intended to hold the meeting to normalize relations, and why he didn't hold her accountable, Dbeibah said the Libyan people punished her, and added that the issue of Palestine is sensitive, and therefore his reaction has been close to that of the Libyans.
Al-Mangoush's meeting with her Israeli counterpart in Rome sparked angry protests that spread across a number of Libyan cities and the matter almost got out of control before the government announced her suspension from work and the formation of a committee to investigate her.
More than five months have passed since the incident, and the investigation committee has not issued any results or reports, and no official decision has been issued to sack the minister or allow her to reassume her job. Also, no decision has yet been taken by Dbeibah to appoint a new foreign minister.
