AP — Libya’s Foreign Minister, Najla El Mangoush, fled the country after the Libyan Prime Minister suspended her on Monday because she met with her Israeli counterpart.

In its support for Palestine, Libya does not recognise Israel as a state. Thus, the foreign meeting resulted in public outrage. On the contrary, Israel is working on instituting closer relations with the Arab countries.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen called their meeting “historic”, and being “the first step” in establishing relations with Libya.

Israel’s statement regarding the talks came as a surprise. The Speaker’s Office in the Libyan parliament deemed Najla Mangoush’s meeting as treason, and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has called for an investigation.

On Monday, an Israeli official told the BBC that the meeting was not a “chance encounter” but planned in advance — contrary to Libya’s foreign ministry portrayal.

According to the official, the two sides agreed to the focus of the published statement, which was due to be published on Monday but was released on Sunday instead after the story was leaked to the Israeli media.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused the Israeli foreign ministry of being “amateurish [and] irresponsible” and having committed “a serious failure of judgement”.

In Sunday’s statement, Eli Cohen revealed the discussions which held “great potential for the relations” between Israel and Libya. He added that they talked about Israeli aid in humanitarian issues, agriculture, water management and the importance of preserving Jewish heritage in Libya, including renovating synagogues and cemeteries.

Libya’s Presidential Council requested “clarification” from the government regarding the matter. The Presidential Council operates as head of state and is in charge of the country’s military.

A letter from the body stated that the meeting between the two foreign ministers “does not reflect the foreign policy of the Libyan state, does not represent the Libyan national constants and is considered a violation of Libyan laws which criminalise normalisation with the ‘Zionist entity'”.

It also suggested “to apply the law if the meeting took place”.