Archive for Israeli ambassador

Cairo airport prepares for Israeli ambassador’s return

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November 26th, 2012

Cairo International Airport authorities adopted tight security measures Monday at the airport VIP lounge, preparing for the arrival of the Israeli ambassador to Cairo.

Ambassador Yaakov Amitai had left for Tel Aviv more than 10 days ago following the start of the Israeli military campaign against the Gaza Strip.

A source told German news agency DPA that the Israeli Embassy in Cairo had notified the airport that Amitai would arrive with eight staff members on an Air Sinai flight.

The ambassador was previously scheduled to return Sunday, the source told DPA, adding that airport authorities predicted he might have postponed his arrival because of the recent political tensions that followed President Mohamed Morsy’s declaration of new presidential powers.

Relations have grown more complicated between Cairo and Tel Aviv following the 25 January revolution, which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak and brought Morsy, an Islamist, to power.

Morsy had backed Palestinian militant group Hamas during the Israeli military campaign that started on 14 November with the assassination of Hamas military leader Ahmed al-Jabari. Prime Minister Hesham Qandil had visited Gaza to voice solidarity with Palestinians.

Many in Egypt have been calling for repealing the peace treaty signed by both countries in 1979, after Israel killed at least six Egyptian security officers in a border raid in August 2011.
 

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Protesters march on Israeli Ambassador’s home over Sinai attack

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August 7th, 2012

 

Dozens of members from Youth for Freedom and Justice, the April 6 Youth movement, and Kefaya, The Egyptian Movement for Change, organized a march to the home of the Israeli Ambassador in Maadi to protest the killing of 16 security officers near the Egyptian-Israeli border on Sunday afternoon.

The protesters called for the expulsion of the Ambassador and to punish those who perpetrated or colluded in the attack.

Officials from Egypt and Israel said the attackers belonged to extremist Islamist groups in Sinai, but Islamist politicians and observers in Egypt said they suspect that Israel was behind the incident.

The protesters chanted slogans against Israel and raised black banners that read "in mourning."

Wessam Aly, one of the participants in the protest, said he held the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces accountable for the attack and called for revealing the identities of the assailants.

Israel had closed its embassy in Cairo after protesters stormed it in September after six Egyptian border guards were killed in August by Israeli forces, who said they were targeting terrorist elements.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Protesters march on Israeli Ambassador’s home over Sinai attack

by admin
August 7th, 2012

 

Dozens of members from Youth for Freedom and Justice, the April 6 Youth movement, and Kefaya, The Egyptian Movement for Change, organized a march to the home of the Israeli Ambassador in Maadi to protest the killing of 16 security officers near the Egyptian-Israeli border on Sunday afternoon.

The protesters called for the expulsion of the Ambassador and to punish those who perpetrated or colluded in the attack.

Officials from Egypt and Israel said the attackers belonged to extremist Islamist groups in Sinai, but Islamist politicians and observers in Egypt said they suspect that Israel was behind the incident.

The protesters chanted slogans against Israel and raised black banners that read "in mourning."

Wessam Aly, one of the participants in the protest, said he held the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces accountable for the attack and called for revealing the identities of the assailants.

Israel had closed its embassy in Cairo after protesters stormed it in September after six Egyptian border guards were killed in August by Israeli forces, who said they were targeting terrorist elements.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Top Israeli diplomat accuses Iran of sponsoring Sinai attack

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August 6th, 2012

A senior Israeli diplomat accused Iran of being behind an attack in Sinai that left 16 Egyptian security guards dead.

“Iranian-backed terrorists again struck at our Southern border today, killing 15 Egyptian guards and attempting to massacre Israeli civilians. Terrorists also shelled Israeli farms and towns along the border,” Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren wrote on Facebook, using an earlier count of the number of guards killed.

“The thwarted attack underscores the length to which the extremist regime in Iran will attempt to kill innocent Israelis,” he added.

The assailants also seized two military vehicles and attempted to cross the border.

Israel said its aircraft fired on one of the commandeered vehicles and that the other exploded at the border crossing. Some of the gunmen were killed by Israeli forces combing the border, the Israeli army said.

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Israeli ambassador meets with Foreign Ministry

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April 24th, 2012

Israeli Ambassador to Egypt, Yaakov Amitai, on Tuesday visited the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and met with Taher Farahat, the ministry’s director of the Israel unit. The visit lasted for over half an hour.

The visit was Amitai’s first following the termination of Egyptian gas exports to Israel, and security forces secured the area during his visit.

A diplomatic source denied reports that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador in response to statements made by a number of Israeli officials following the termination of gas exports.

The source went on to say the visit is not unusual and that it came at the request of the Israeli ambassador over a week ago. He pointed out that the Foreign Ministry had nothing to do with the decision to terminate gas exports to Israel, pointing out that the decision was made for reasons relating to the terms of the agreement. He said it was a commercial dispute between two companies, unrelated to politics.

The source added that Israel had yet to find a new headquarters for the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.

Edited Translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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Sources: No notice from Israel over conversion of ambassador’s home into new embassy

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April 5th, 2012

Israel has “not officially informed the Foreign Ministry that the Israeli ambassador’s home in Cairo was chosen as the new headquarters for the Israeli Embassy,,” diplomatic sources said on Thursday.

The sources added that according to diplomatic custom, any country in the world is entitled to use its ambassador’s residence in the manner it deems most suitable.

The sources said they believed the Israeli decision to be a temporary one.

In response to a question on whether or not the necessary security requirements were available to convert the Israeli ambassador’s place of residence into an embassy, the sources confirmed that Egyptian security services would consider the situation if Israel officially informs it that it has been chosen as the new embassy headquarters.

In a report on Wednesday, Israeli state television’s Channel 10 said the Israeli Foreign Ministry allocated the ground floor of the Israeli ambassador’s villa in Maadi for embassy activities after the failure of efforts to obtain a new embassy to replace the one that was vandalized by Egyptian protesters in September 2011.

Angry Egyptian protesters raided the embassy in September following an Israeli border raid that had killed six Egyptian security officers days earlier. The killings provoked calls to revoke the peace treaty signed by both countries in 1979.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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Egypt cannot cancel peace treaty, says former Israeli ambassador

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March 25th, 2012

Egypt cannot cancel its 1979 peace treaty with Israel, former Israeli Ambassador to Cairo Yitzhak Levanon said in an article published Sunday.

Levanon told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai that Egypt will not achieve post-revolutionary progress if it has disputes with Israel.

The former ambassador said Egypt understands the treaty is strategic and important for the whole region, adding that the Muslim Brotherhood — which won a majority of parliamentary seats — is proving more flexible than before.

Israel and Egypt have been able to maintain stable relations a year after Egypt’s uprising, Levanon said, calling this a success.

Levanon said that despite requests from Egyptian MPs, Egypt will never reconsider the treaty because it is the president’s, not Parliament’s, decision. If the president is absent, the decision is in the hands of the ruling military council.

The former ambassador said he found that no one wants to revive the days of war between Egypt and Israel, despite the possibility of conflicts related to Palestine.

Relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv deteriorated after the killing of six Egyptian security officers in an Israeli border raid in August. The incident sparked a public uproar in Egypt. Some called for expelling the Israeli ambassador and canceling the 1979 treaty.

In the aftermath of the Egyptian uprising, Israel expressed fears on several occasions regarding Islamists’ intentions toward peace with Israel.

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FM sources call Israeli embassy shipments ‘routine’ procedure

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March 21st, 2012

Shipping the contents of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo back to Israel was a “routine” measure and does not mean that Ambassador Yaakov Amitai is going to leave Cairo permanently, sources at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Wednesday.

Reuters reported Tuesday that Israel had requested to send two airplanes to evacuate some contents from its Cairo embassy. “It was not clear whether or not the move would also involve evacuating staff,” the news agency reported.

Earlier this month, the Arab Affairs Committee of the People’s Assembly called for expelling the Israeli ambassador after recent Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip which left at least 20 people dead.  

The Foreign Ministry sources stressed that the planes were requested to transport the personal items of employees who had worked in the embassy before it was raided by protesters last September.

“This is a routine request that is made by any diplomat abroad after ending his mandate,” the sources said.

The same sources added that the embassy is now staffed by four people: the ambassador, the caretaker ambassador, an administrative officer and one secretary.

The embassy building was closed after protesters raided it in September following an Israeli border raid that killed six Egyptian security officers.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Parliament demands expulsion of Israeli ambassador

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March 12th, 2012

In an evening session Monday, the People’s Assembly demanded the deportation of the Israeli ambassador, Yaakov Amitai, and the withdrawal of the Egyptian ambassador from Tel Aviv.

The assembly voted unanimously on a statement prepared by the Committee on Arab Affairs, which also called for stopping gas exports to Israel in protest against the brutal attacks committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, considering it a flagrant violation of human rights.

Assembly speaker Saad al-Katatny asked a special parliamentary committee to follow up the implementation of the demands with the government.

The statement said, “Egypt after the revolution will never be a friend of the Zionist entity, the first enemy of Egypt and the Arab nation,” and demanded that the Egyptian government review all its relations and agreements with that “enemy.”

It also called for activating the Arab boycott of the “Zionist entity” and the international companies that deal with it, considering such boycott strong support of the “choice of resistance,” the strategic option for the liberation of the occupied territories.

Israel has launched several air strikes on the Gaza Strip, while militants in Gaza continued to fire rockets into southern Israel on Monday, the fourth day of violence that has taken the lives of 23 Palestinians.

Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire were met with a demand by the Islamic Jihad Movement that Israel agree first not to target the movement’s leaders in future air strikes.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr had condemned the Israeli raids on the Gaza Stripon Saturday, and called for an immediate end to bloodshed, but Israel refused as long as rockets are still launched from the strip.

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Weapon seized from Israeli diplomat in Cairo airport

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March 12th, 2012

A security official at Cairo airport on Monday said that Air Sinai allowed a diplomat accompanying the Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Yaakov Amitai, to board a plane from Tel Aviv carrying a weapon.

“According to international aviation regulations, the weapon should have been placed in the cargo compartment and later handed over to the passenger upon arrival,” said airport security director Salah Zeyada, describing the incident as “a big mistake.”

Zeyada also said that carrying a weapon on board a plane and inside an airport terminal is a serious matter. Customs seized the weapon upon the arrival of the diplomat Sunday to match it with its license.

Last month, the London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported that Amitai demanded that Egyptian authorities tighten his personal security out of fear of attacks similar to those carried out against Israeli diplomats in India, Georgia and Thailand.

On 13 and 14 February attackers in India, Georgia and Thailand targeted Israeli diplomats with so-called “sticky” bombs that attach magnetically to vehicles.

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