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.
Nile Ritz Carlton hotel in Tahrir square, Cairo is hosting Israel's independence day celebration which is organised by the Israeli embassy in Egypt. Many Egyptian public figures are said to be invited to the event.
What a shame. Egypt celebrating Nakba.
— Ali Ibrahim (@Ali_IbrahimSh) May 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/hp2007h1122/status/994267868366823424
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’.
After a series of events in Jerusalem marking 40 years since Sadat's historic visit to Israel, our Embassy in #Cairo hosted many distinguished guests last night to complete the celebration. Great to see 🇮🇱🇪🇬 #peace celebrated in #Jerusalem & in Cairo. pic.twitter.com/1czR5ijbQP
— Yuval Rotem 🇮🇱 (@Yuval_Rotem) November 23, 2017
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.
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[…] leader is presenting his soft support to White House decision in various ways, like permitting the Israeli embassy celebrations for its 70th anniversary in Cairo despite an expected backlash from Arab nations, and he’s sustaining the country’s position against Iran and its […]
[…] Recently, the Israeli Embassy celebrated the anniversary of Israel at the Nile Ritz Carlton in Tahrir, in Cairo, although the event was met with social media backlash. […]