Egypt’s Parliament on Wednesday expelled a well-known
television personality turned lawmaker over a dinner he had with the Israeli ambassador — a vote that exposed a raw nerve in the mostly tranquil relationship between the two countries.
The lawmaker, Tawfik Okasha, had already been attacked with a shoe by a fellow lawmaker three days earlier over the same episode, which highlighted Egyptian sensitivity toward Israel, 37 years after the two countries signed a peace treaty.
Although Egypt and Israel enjoy close security cooperation, particularly in the struggle against Islamist extremists in Sinai, many Egyptians view Israel with hostility over its policies toward the Palestinians, and public interactions with Israeli officials are considered taboo.
Speaking by telephone, Mr. Okasha’s lawyer, Khaled Suleiman, said he had been “expecting a backlash for meeting the ambassador, but nothing close to this.”
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The furor started last week after the Israeli Embassy in Cairo posted a photograph on its Facebook page of the dinner between its ambassador, Haim Koren, and Mr. Okasha, who built his public presence with an often provocative television show before being elected to Parliament last fall.
The lawmaker, Tawfik Okasha, had already been attacked with a shoe by a fellow lawmaker three days earlier over the same episode, which highlighted Egyptian sensitivity toward Israel, 37 years after the two countries signed a peace treaty.
Although Egypt and Israel enjoy close security cooperation, particularly in the struggle against Islamist extremists in Sinai, many Egyptians view Israel with hostility over its policies toward the Palestinians, and public interactions with Israeli officials are considered taboo.
Speaking by telephone, Mr. Okasha’s lawyer, Khaled Suleiman, said he had been “expecting a backlash for meeting the ambassador, but nothing close to this.”
Continue reading the main story
The furor started last week after the Israeli Embassy in Cairo posted a photograph on its Facebook page of the dinner between its ambassador, Haim Koren, and Mr. Okasha, who built his public presence with an often provocative television show before being elected to Parliament last fall.
Mr. Okasha said he had wanted to lobby Mr. Koren over the Grand Renaissance Dam, an ambitious project being built by Ethiopia that some Egyptians fear will reduce their share of water from the Nile.
That fear, he said, has its basis in a conspiracy theory: that Israel has secretly been helping Ethiopia build the dam as a means of hurting Egyptian interests.
Yet if that explanation was intended to deflect criticism from Mr. Okasha, it failed spectacularly on Wednesday when his fellow lawmakers voted by a two-thirds majority to exclude him from the chamber.
Afterward, the speaker of Parliament, Ali Abdel-Al, said that Egypt respected all of its diplomatic commitments, including those with Israel, and that Mr. Okasha had been punished for meeting a foreign diplomat without permission.
Yet Mr. Okasha’s lawyer said the vote was in a reality a “a disguised attempt” to punish him for his recent criticism of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
“They won’t say it, of course. But that is why this is happening,” Mr. Suleiman said.
Once a staunch Sisi supporter, Mr. Okasha has fired several stinging broadsides against the government in recent months, accusing it of incompetence and tampering with Parliament.
In December, he claimed that security agencies had manipulated the recent parliamentary elections to ensure a majority in favor of Mr. Sisi and that Abbas Kamel, a retired army general and a confidant of Mr. Sisi’s, was “calling the shots” in the country.
That accusation brought sharp criticism, and Mr. Okasha was forced to quit his television show for a time.
He later apologized and was allowed back on the air, only to resume the attacks.
After the shoe-throwing episode, Mr. Koren told Israel’s Channel 10 television in a telephone interview that he had spoken with Mr. Okasha, who assured him that he was undeterred.
“We will meet again soon,” Mr. Koren reported Mr. Okasha as saying.
Mr. Koren noted that he had met with Mr. Sisi and other Egyptian officials and that relations between the two countries were “very good.”
That fear, he said, has its basis in a conspiracy theory: that Israel has secretly been helping Ethiopia build the dam as a means of hurting Egyptian interests.
Yet if that explanation was intended to deflect criticism from Mr. Okasha, it failed spectacularly on Wednesday when his fellow lawmakers voted by a two-thirds majority to exclude him from the chamber.
Afterward, the speaker of Parliament, Ali Abdel-Al, said that Egypt respected all of its diplomatic commitments, including those with Israel, and that Mr. Okasha had been punished for meeting a foreign diplomat without permission.
Yet Mr. Okasha’s lawyer said the vote was in a reality a “a disguised attempt” to punish him for his recent criticism of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
“They won’t say it, of course. But that is why this is happening,” Mr. Suleiman said.
Once a staunch Sisi supporter, Mr. Okasha has fired several stinging broadsides against the government in recent months, accusing it of incompetence and tampering with Parliament.
In December, he claimed that security agencies had manipulated the recent parliamentary elections to ensure a majority in favor of Mr. Sisi and that Abbas Kamel, a retired army general and a confidant of Mr. Sisi’s, was “calling the shots” in the country.
That accusation brought sharp criticism, and Mr. Okasha was forced to quit his television show for a time.
He later apologized and was allowed back on the air, only to resume the attacks.
After the shoe-throwing episode, Mr. Koren told Israel’s Channel 10 television in a telephone interview that he had spoken with Mr. Okasha, who assured him that he was undeterred.
“We will meet again soon,” Mr. Koren reported Mr. Okasha as saying.
Mr. Koren noted that he had met with Mr. Sisi and other Egyptian officials and that relations between the two countries were “very good.”
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