Despite Israeli Foreign Minister's Diplomatic Blunder, Libya Has Long Been Fanatically Anti-Semitic

There is no question that Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen made a monumental blunder when he publicly disclosed his conversation with his Libyan counterpart Najla Mangoush in Rome. 

The Libyan government suspended Mangoush, but forced her to flee to Turkey. Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and the Biden Administration are right to take the Netanyahu government to task for this diplomatic impropriety. 

After all, Libya effectively has two governments. One is the Government of National Unity led by Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh of which Mangoush was a part and is recognized by the UN. The other is a Government of National Stability led by Osama Hamada and supported by the country's military which rules the eastern half of the country. 

Yet let us be clear here. Riots have broken out in Libya because Mangoush met with a Jew. It must be said that Libya has long been a fanatically anti-Semitic country, even by Middle East standards. There was a pogrom in Libya at the end of WWII which saw the massacre of 140 Jews. Another pogrom amid The Six Day War in June 1967 prompted King Idris to evacuate the majority of Libya's Jewish population which was airlifted to Italy. When Muammar Gaddafi came to power two years later, among his first acts was to strip Jews of what remaining civil rights they had, confiscate property owned by Jews, convert synagogues into mosques and forbid Jews who had fled Libya from ever returning. 

There are no Jews living in Libya. It is Judenrein. 

If the people of Libya are angry that their Foreign Affairs Minister talked to a Jew, then imagine how they would react if Libya made peace with Israel. 

So even if Cohen had been discreet and someone else had leaked the news of Mangoush's conversation with Cohen there would have been violence. 

Cohen richly deserves to not only be called on the carpet for his lack of diplomacy and discretion, but to lose his portfolio. Nevertheless, we must ask why Libyan government officials are forbidden to speak with their Israeli counterparts in the first place. By not asking the question, we fail to get to the root of the problem that is Libyan anti-Semitism.