rabat – The recent controversy surrounding Libya’s now-sacked foreign minister Najla al-Mangoush and her meeting with Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen in Rome has disrupted the US administration’s plans to establish peace in the Middle East.
This incident has cast a shadow over the Biden administration’s quiet efforts to bring Libya into the fold of the Abraham Accords, a complex web of agreements aimed at establishing formal relations between Israel and Arab countries.
The controversy started last week when Cohen announced that he held a meeting with al-Mangoush in Rome, referencing “great relations” between the two countries.
According to reports, this was not supposed to happen as the meeting was set to be conducted completely under wraps. Predictably, the announcement ignited a massive wave of criticism among the Libyan people.
Libya’s Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah found himself in a difficult position when news of al-Mangoush’s meeting with Cohen surfaced.
Many analysts have questioned whether he was genuinely unaware of these plans or if, as some suggest, al-Mangoush was thrown under the proverbial bus. Regardless of the truth, Dbeibah’s interim government in Tripoli had to contend with the public outcry, further eroding its already fragile legitimacy.
For Israel, the meeting with al-Mangoush served as a reminder that although the normalization of relations with Arab countries was gaining momentum, the reaction on the Arab street remains far from welcoming.
In Libya, especially in western regions, there is little appetite for official relations with Israel, as evidenced by al-Mangoush having to go as far as fleeing the country after being fired over the meeting.
Federica Saini Fasanotti, a senior associate fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, noted that “Israel was the enemy” during Gaddafi’s era, underscoring the challenges of shifting public opinion.
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Behind the scenes, officials in Washington D.C. were far from pleased with the leak of the meeting. President Joe Biden’s administration had been quietly working to bring Libya into the Abraham Accords, a goal that appeared to be within reach.
Acting United States Ambassador to Israel Stephanie Hallett met with Cohen to express dissatisfaction, indicating the seriousness of the situation.
One US official went as far as to say that the leak had effectively killed the possibility of Libya normalizing ties with Israel, making it even harder to expand the accords to new Arab and Islamic countries.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been a central player in these efforts. The UAE, which had previously supported renegade General Khalifa Haftar during the 2014-2020 Libyan civil war, has been engaged in dialogue with Dbeibah’s government in Tripoli, advocating for normalization.
The UAE’s role in the regional efforts to encourage more Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel has been pivotal to US foreign policy interests. In 2020, just before Sudan announced its normalization with Israel, a critical meeting took place in Abu Dhabi involving Sudan, the UAE, and the US.
Sudan sought a broad economic support package, and the UAE was able to use its financial resources as an incentive, facilitating the historic agreement between Sudan and Israel.
For Abu Dhabi, expanding the Abraham Accords not only bolsters its standing with Washington D.C. but also strengthens its position as a key regional player.
As the Biden administration navigates the complex web of diplomacy in the Middle East, the incident involving Libya serves as a stark reminder of the challenges and complexities inherent in the pursuit of peace and normalization in the region.
