The Libyan prime minister’s fierce reaction last week to news that his foreign minister secretly met with her Israeli counterpart to discuss normalization of relations between the countries raised widespread concerns about the future of the Abraham Accords and other such efforts in the region.
According to The Times of Israel, leaked news of the meeting received tremendous blowback in Tripoli and Prime Minister Hamid Dheibah went ballistic. Dheibah reportedly rejected outright the prospect of normalizing relations with Israel. He went on to “affirm [Libya’s] rejection of any form of normalization and declared, ‘Long live Libya, long live Palestine, and long live the Palestinian cause in all our hearts…’”
He also condemned foreign minister Najla Magoush, whom he said had “acted independently,” and vowed to get to the bottom of what had happened. “Even if it was a side meeting, or in passing, it requires a harsh response to be a lesson on the nation’s sanctities,” he said, and Libya’s “complete rejection of “bias towards the Palestinian people and their just cause.” Dheibah subsequently fired Magoush hours after she fled the country out of concern for her safety.
The obvious question raised by Dheibah’s rant was whether it reflected the broad sentiment in the region about whether there could be Arab peace with Israel without Israel agreeing to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
According to The Times of Israel, two senior Libyan government officials told the Associated Press that Dhiebeh did in fact know about the talks between the two foreign ministers and had given his approval. Prime Minister Netanyahu also reportedly had prior knowledge of the meeting.
Taking that into consideration, this public outburst following the news leak seems to be a matter of keeping a lid on popular unrest in Libya, which has long been hostile to Israel and supportive of the Palestinians.
There are obviously serious issues with any deal, and caution must be the touchtone; but there does seem to be a feeling that some pieces of the puzzle may be beginning to fall into place.
