Concerns in Israel that meeting of Israeli and Libyan ministers has weakened trust in its officials

Concerns have been expressed in Israel that the controversy over the meeting between the Israeli and Libyan foreign ministers has damaged Israel’s efforts to normalise relations with the Arab world.

The Ha’aretz daily newspaper quoted an unnamed senior diplomat from an Arab country that has ties with Israel saying the incident will weaken other countries’ trust in Israeli officials.

Israel is working with the Biden administration on an agreement to normalise ties with Saudi Arabia, and is also trying to expand ties with other Arab and Muslim countries.

“The demonstrations in the streets of Libya will have an impact,” the diplomat said. “Some countries will lose courage as a result. No leader wants to see images like those [of turmoil in Libya] in his capital.”

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Israel said on Sunday that foreign minister Eli Cohen had met his Libyan counterpart Najla Mangoush in Italy “with the aim of studying options of co-operation and ties between both countries”. Hours later, following riots in Tripoli, Ms Mangoush fled Libya to Turkey, and was dismissed as foreign minister.

On Tuesday Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed ministers and officials to confirm with him before holding or publicly reporting on any covert diplomatic meetings.

Haim Tomer, the former head of the intelligence and foreign operations division in the Mossad spy agency, said the affair had caused significant damage. “Israel-Libya relations will be put on the ice for a period of time. Libya is important but much more important is Saudi Arabia. This was a big blunder because it puts Israel in a position of a country that cannot handle anything secret because everyone is rushing to the media,” he said in a briefing on Tuesday hosted by Media Central. “If I was Netanyahu I would send a message to the Saudis that this is a mishap and our ability to handle relations is still stable.”

According to Israel’s Walla News website, US officials are also concerned that the affair will have a chilling effect on other countries and will deter them from engaging in efforts to normalise ties with Israel.

Mr Cohen blamed “political rivals” for accusing him of a “leak that never happened”, adding that “the attacks won’t deter the foreign ministry from continuing to work to strengthen relations with our many friends around the world, and in the Arab world in particular”.

Opposition Labor Party chairwoman Merav Michaeli called on Mr Cohen to resign. “One rushed publication ruined the life of the Libyan minister, who had to flee to Turkey, and caused international damage to Israel. No serious discreet international figure will want to meet with a foreign minister whose sole objective is political gain and Twitter likes.”