On Tuesday, Israel’s Embassy in Egypt celebrated the 70th anniversary of the independence of the state of Israel for the first time since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. Since then, photos and news of the event circulated online where they were met with heavy criticism.

The party, which was hosted at the Nile Ritz Carlton in Tahrir, was said to have been attended by state representative figures, and diplomats according to the official Twitter page of the Israel (in Arabic). It also featured an Israeli chef, Shaul Ben-Aderet, adorned in his chef outfit on which two miniature flags, one of Israel and one of Egypt, were embroidered.

Parliament speaker,Ali Abdel Aal, warned against attending the celebrations without his permission on the same morning although it is unclear whether MPs received invitations to the celebration or not, according to Madamasr.

#لن_نعترف_بالصهاينة
احتفال السفارة الإسرائيلية بقيام دولة اسرائيل في فندق ريتز كارلتون القاهرة بالتحرير
نقطة قبيحه وسوداء في تاريخ مصر

— (طوبي للغرباء) (@hp2007h1122) May 9, 2018

This second tweet reads: #We won’t recignoze zionism. The celebration of the Israeli Embassy on the occasion of its founding in the Nile Ritz Cairo in Tahrir is a big ugly black stain in Egyptian history. 

However, not all were adamantly against the celebration in the heart of Tahrir. The Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs called it a celebration of ‘peace’.

https://twitter.com/Yuval_Rotem/status/933808115178463233

In 2011, the Embassy of Israel had to close after crows of protesters stormed its building. It has reopened since.

Ties between Egypt and Israel have deepened when general-turned-president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi assumed presidency. In February, the Israeli government announced that it signed a “historic deal” with Egypt to export $US 15 billion of natural gas in a decade-long agreement although this was later refuted by Egypt.