Israel apologized for attacking Egyptian diplomats

Israel apologized for attacking Egyptian diplomats

Israel Radio Reshet Bet News Room Eran Singer, Shay Silber 9 May 2013
12:20

http://www.iba.org.il/bet/bet.aspx?type=1&entity=928574

[IMRA translation]

Israeli ambassador in Cairo was summoned to a disciplinary meeting at the
Foreign Ministry

Israel apologized to Egypt for an incident in which police attacked several
diplomats from Egypt and a Coptic clergyman at the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher in Jerusalem on Saturday. The clergyman attacked was in need of
medical treatment. Yesterday (Wednesday) Israel’s ambassador to Egypt,
Yaakov Amitai, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Cairo for a
reprimand, and heard the Egyptian protest of attacks on its people.

Jerusalem police told our correspondent that the matter does not known to
them and they are checking it now.
============
Israeli ambassador summoned over ‘mistreatment’ of Egypt diplomats
Foreign ministry summons Israeli ambassador to Egypt over alleged
mistreatment of Egyptian diplomats in Tel Aviv, voices displeasure with
recent Israeli airstrikes against Syrian targets
Ahram Online , Wednesday 8 May 2013

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/70997/Egypt/Politics-/Israeli-ambassador-summoned-over-mistreatment-of-E.aspx

Israeli ambassador to Egypt Yaakov Amitai has been summoned by Egyptian
authorities following allegations that staff members at Egypt’s embassy in
Tel Aviv were being mistreated, foreign ministry spokesman Amr Roshdy said
Wednesday.

According to Roshdy, Israeli authorities attempted to stop Egyptian embassy
officials from attending Coptic Easter mass on Sunday in Jerusalem’s Church
of the Holy Sepulchre.

Amitai was also informed of Egypt’s displeasure regarding recent Israeli
airstrikes against targets in Syria.

On Sunday, Israeli jets bombed a military research facility north of
Damascus. Israeli officials said the strikes had aimed to to destroy
Iranian-made missiles intended for Lebanese resistance outfit Hezbollah.

Roshdy described the airstrikes as a “breach of Syria’s national
sovereignty.”

Roshdy also condemned the arrest of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh
Mohamed Ahmed Hussein, who was taken from his home by Israeli authorities on
Wednesday.

Israeli security officials, for their part, allege that Hussein had been
involved in recent “disturbances” near Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque when
Israeli settlers visited the site.

Relations between Egypt and Israel have been strained since Egypt’s January
2011 uprising, which culminated in the ouster of longstanding president
Hosni Mubarak. Many Egyptians demand the modification – or abrogation – of
the 1978 Camp David peace treaty between the two nations.

In 2011, several protests were held by Egyptian pro-Palestinian groups
outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo to pressure Egypt’s then-ruling Supreme
Military Council to expel the Israeli ambassador.

In September 2011, protesters stormed the embassy building. Since then,
Israel has continued to look for a new building to host its diplomatic
mission.