On 28 August, The Times of Israel published an article by Gianluca Pacchiani, titled ‘Peace with Libya is doubtful, but contact, aided by local Jews, started years ago’. Against the backdrop of the recent Rome-brokered meeting between GNU Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush and her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen, Pacchiani interviews Raphael Luzon, the chairman of the Union of Libyan Jews. Contrary to Libyan media reports that pointed to him as the possible mastermind of the controversial meeting, Luzon was not connected to it. However, he speaks to Pacchiani about earlier meetings he facilitated between high-ranking Israeli and Libyan officials over the past few years, paving the way for last week’s meeting, which he described as ‘the culmination of six years of work’.
Read the full article here.