The meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his Libyan counterpart Najila el-Mangoush last week in Rome is unlikely to go down in history as a breakthrough in the relations between Israel and the Arab world.
On the face of it, such a meeting could and should have been a pivotal moment. Instead, it will become yet another illustration of the dysfunctionality of Israeli governance.
We may have to wait until one of the main actors writes their memoirs. Perhaps Ms El-Mangoush, who has now lost her job and been forced into exile, will use her unexpected free time to write one. But until then, we can look at the changes in the Israeli narrative over 36 hours to get some kind of idea.
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Eli Cohen (Photo: Flash 90)
It began with a lengthy press release last Sunday afternoon in which Cohen extolled the “historic meeting” which was “a first step in the ties between Israel and Libya”, in which they had discussed “possibilities of cooperation between the countries and the preservation of Jewish culture in Libya”.
But then came the pushback from Tripoli in the shape of a statement saying that the meeting was “unplanned” and had not “included any discussions, agreements or consultation”.
This was followed by rioting on the streets and El-Mangoush, who had already been suspended by her prime minister, fleeing the country shortly after midnight on a government plane.
The next stage in the narrative was frantic briefing early on Monday morning from the foreign ministry that both sides had agreed that the meeting was to be publicly acknowledged.
But if this was indeed the case (and it seems unlikely, as the Libyan government could have easily anticipated the anger on the streets), then why did Cohen’s office put out another statement later on Monday saying that “the leak on the meeting with Libya’s foreign minister did not come from the foreign ministry or the office of the foreign minister”? Either they had agreed to publicise or there had been a leak.
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Protesters in Tripoli, Libya (Photo: Getty Images)
Cohen’s aides then tried to claim that the timing of the publication had yet to be decided when their hand was forced by the Israeli website Ynet, which had got wind of the meeting and reported it.
But while Ynet did indeed have the scoop, their report came out simultaneously with the minister’s original statement, which from its length and detail (it even included a biography of El-Mangoush) could not have been prepared hurriedly.
The minister started casting around for someone to blame. At first, sources close to him tried to accuse the Mossad and the National Security Council of the leak, but this hardly made sense.
Mossad has spent nearly its entire existence facilitating secret meetings with Arab leaders and doesn’t leak them.
And the NSC rarely deals with these matters. In the evening, Cohen came up with new culprits.
“It’s a pity,” he said in yet another statement, “that political rivals who have not achieved anything significant rush to respond without knowing the details and accuse us of a leak that didn’t happen.” Wait? So there wasn’t a leak now?
There was one final postscript, at least final for now. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office put out a statement that he had “instructed all the government ministries to clear all secret diplomatic meetings with the prime minister’s office”, adding that any publication of such meetings would be decided by him.
The statement didn’t mention a specific minister or meeting, and his office refused to answer journalists’ questions over whether he had known about the meeting in Rome in advance and whether he had given the green light to publicise it. But the timing left no doubt whom he was blaming.
Pilgrims’ progress
All this is just par for the course in this government. Cohen himself was in a meeting earlier this month in Moldova where the main item on the agenda was smoothing the passage of tens of thousands of Chasidic pilgrims to the grave in Uman of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav on Rosh Hashana in two weeks.
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Eli Cohen (Photo: Flash 90)
Uman, of course, is in war-torn Ukraine (which is why the pilgrims have to go through a third country) and Cohen’s foreign ministry has an official statement (which was updated just this week) on Ukraine warning “Israeli citizens without exception to not enter the country”.
And he’s not the only minister helping Israelis to enter Ukraine against their government’s guidance. Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Meir Porush has appointed himself head of the “Uman task force”, facilitating the pilgrimage.
As one government official tried to explain this week, “Whatever we say, tens of thousands of Breslavers will go to Ukraine. They did during Covid-19, they’re doing it now despite the war. We take responsibility for the irresponsible.”
That didn’t explain why Porush interceded with the Ukrainians, unsuccessfully, on behalf of twice-convicted sexual offender and fraudster Rabbi Eliezer Berland, so they would allow him to enter the country and spend Rosh Hashana in Uman as well.
Meeting mystery
Another minister having trouble engaging with a foreign government is Defence minister Yoav Gallant, who was in Washington DC this week but didn’t enter the Pentagon to meet his opposite number.
This doesn’t signal any estrangement between Gallant and the Americans.
On the contrary, the Biden administration sees him as the “responsible grown-up” in the government, and last week in Tel Aviv he met the US Chief of the Joint Staffs General Mark Milley, who was making a farewell visit to Israel.
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Yoav Gallant (Photo: Getty Images)
In Washington Gallant did get to meet US government officials, including the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf. And there is a chance that he may be soon allowed to return to the Pentagon.
But until Netanyahu finally gets his much-awaited meeting with President Joe Biden, he has forbidden his ministers (with the exception of Gallant and his trusted confidante and plenipotentiary, Strategic Affairs minister Ron Dermer, who is Israel’s real foreign minister) to meet administration officials.
Israeli and American diplomats have begun briefing in recent days that, finally, Netanyahu is going to be invited back to the White House after a long and unaccustomed absence (the last time he was there was in January 2020, when President Donald Trump presented his Middle East peace plan).
The meeting is expected to take place during Netanyahu’s scheduled visit to another of his old stamping grounds, the United Nations General Assembly, where he is scheduled to speak on September 21.
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Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Israeli Prime Ministers Office)
The White House has yet to officially confirm a meeting will take place with Biden, leaving Netanyahu to stew until the statement comes.
It seems almost inconceivable that he will be cold-shouldered and not get a meeting once he’s in the US, but there’s a possibility that it will be downgraded and instead of a White House reception, he’ll get a meeting in New York “on the sidelines” of the General Assembly.
Some Israeli diplomats have warned that if this is the case, rather than be humiliated, he may find a reason not to fly altogether and send Cohen in his stead.
