Regrets Disclosure Of His Ministerial Meeting With Libya's Foreign Minister, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu: It Doesn't Help

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Wikimedia Commons/kmu.gov.ua/men's

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the disclosure of his ministerial secret meeting with the Libyan Foreign Minister was unhelpful, as it also caused a strong reaction in Tripoli.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's office on August 26 announced that he had met with his partner Libya Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush in Italy earlier last month.

The statement comes after reports by Israeli media about the meeting sparked protests in Libya, which did not recognize Israel and had strong pro-Palestinian sentiment, leading to the sacking of Foreign Minister Mangoush by Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah.

"That doesn't help, it's clear now," PM Netanyahu told Cyprus TV station ANT1 when asked about the publication.

"I have issued directions to all of our government ministers that such meetings must obtain prior permission from my office, and of course their publications must first obtain permission from my office," explained PM Netanyahu.

Separately, analysts say PM Dbeibah and other Libyan leaders have sought to establish ties with Israel, hoping the United States, which sees normalizing Arab relations with Israel as a priority, will support them in Libya's internal political rifts.

Meanwhile, Israel wants to hold talks secretly with potential Arab and Muslim partners, in the hope that they will develop into a full relationship.

In an interview with ANT1, PM Netanyahu called the handling of the Cohen-Magoush meeting an "exclusion of the rules".

Meanwhile, in a post on social media on August 28, which dismissed the furore, Foreign Minister Cohen defended his ministry, which "always works openly and covertly, and in a wise manner, to improve Israel's foreign relations".