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Alleged spy in Egypt immigrated to Israel from US and trained in pro-Israel public relationsAn alleged Israeli spy arrested in Egypt is an American immigrant to Israel who once wrote that he hoped to promote Israeli policies in the Arab world, according to information he and others provided on websites.
The man, detained on Sunday in a development that could strain Israels relations with Egypts new leaders, was identified by the Egyptian MENA news agency as Ilan Chaim Grabel, a misspelling of his family name, Grapel.
The Israeli ambassador to Cairo said on Monday that Israel was looking into the case. The US embassy in the Egyptian capital said it was working to confirm Grapels identity and citizenship.
Israeli embassy officials meet with alleged spy | JTA - Jewish & Israel NewsDiplomats from the Israeli embassy in Egypt met with a dual U.S.-Israel citizen who is being held on charges of being a spy for Israel.
The diplomats met Tuesday in Cairo with Ilan Grapel, who was arrested at his hotel in central Cairo on Sunday. Grapel was ordered detained for 15 days while he is investigated for allegedly "spying on Egypt with the aim of damaging its economic and political interests," Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.
A statement issued Tuesday afternoon by Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Grapel is in good condition and that Israel is working for his release.
Grapel, a New Yorker who moved to Israel after his graduation from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, served as a paratrooper during the Second Lebanon War and was wounded in southern Lebanon in August 2006, The Jerusalem Post reported.
'Ilan Grapel claimed he is Muslim in visa ... JPost - Middle EastAn interrogation of Grapel revealed that the Mossad asked him to "penetrate" all political parties and organizations, especially the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist parties, and find out what the situation in Egypt would be like if the Muslim Brotherhood ruled and what impact this would have on Israeli-Egyptian relations and on relations between Iran and Egypt.
Grapel reportedly sent the Mossad documents and images over the internet from several cafes in Cairo, but did not send anything from his hotel room in order to mislead authorities and to maintain secrecy. He also tried to recruit Egyptians to rise up against the Army,
Col. Alexander Poteyev, a former high official in Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, has been found guilty of treason and desertion thanks to testimony by Anna Chapman and the other nine men and women who pled guilty to espionage in the U.S. and were then sent back to Russia in exchange for alleged Western agents in the biggest spy swap since the Cold War. According to Chapman and the other spies, only Poteyev could have provided the information that sparked their mass arrests last June 27. Chapman, who has become famous since her arrest for her sexcapades, photo shoots and business ventures, told the court that she was apprehended shortly after a U.S. agent contacted her using a code word known only to Poteyev and her personal handler. At the time, Poteyev was deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service's "S" department and ran the sleeper agent ring.
Poteyev was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Moscow District Military Court in absentia. According to the court's verdict, Poteyev, now 59, fled to the U.S. just before the July 9, 2010, spy swap via Belarus and Germany, leaving his wife behind. U.S. officials at the CIA and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the court's claims. According to Russian media reports of the verdict, Poteyev left suddenly, and sent a farewell message to his wife that said he was never coming back. "Mary, try to take it calmly. I'm leaving not for some time, but forever. I didn't want to, but I had to. I will start my life from scratch and will try to help the children," he reportedly said. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appeared on national television shortly after the spy swap to call Poteyev a "pig" who would "regret it a thousand times over."
Russian authorities greeted the Russian spies as heroes when they returned last year, rewarding them with medals. Chapman in particular has been able to parlay her fame into a post-espionage career, becoming an official in Putin's political party, hosting a television show and walking the runway at a fashion show, among other pursuits. Nude and partially nude photos of Chapman were released to the media by Chapman's British ex-husband after her arrest, and since her return to Russia she has posed in leather and with weapons for men's magazines. Chapman provided testimony to the court, but did not appear in person. Poteyev's lawyer plans to appeal the verdict according to a report by Russian state news.
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Report: Israel offers prisoner exchange for Ilan Grapel - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel NewsJerusalem authorities offer to release three Egyptians in Israeli prisons in return for Ilan Grapel, who is accused of spying on Israel's behalf, according to an Egyptian news website.
