Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to shift responsibility to his senior diplomat for disclosing a confidential meeting with Libya's Foreign Minister, which triggered a negative reaction in Tripoli, Reuters reports.

On August 26, the office of Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen released information about his meeting with Libyan counterpart Najla El Mangoush in Italy earlier this month. This statement followed Israeli media coverage of the meeting.
The news led to demonstrations in Libya. The country doesn't acknowledge Israel and has a strong pro-Palestinian sentiment. Consequently, Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah dismissed Mangoush from her position.

Israel is interested in conducting private talks with potential Arab and Muslim partners, as it hopes these discussions will eventually lead to full-fledged diplomatic relations. During the ANT1 interview, Netanyahu described the management of the Cohen-Magoush meeting as something unusual compared to the standard practice.