Egyptiske myndigheter har arrestert en israeler for spionasje. Problemet er at han også er amerikaner, og han reiste på et amerikansk pass, hvilket gjør det til en potensiell delikat sak.

De anti-israelske stemningene er blitt sterkere i Egypt, og paranoiaen likeså. Spionasje for Egypt er en stor sekk som mye kan puttes inn i . I samme paranoide retning går påstander om at Yigal Palmor bidro til å hisse opp motsetninger og skape hat mellom muslimer og koptere. Det lyder selsomt. Salafister har klart den jobben på egen hånd. Hvis arrestasjonen er et utslag av politisk paranoia kan det få politiske konsekvenser både for forholdet til USA og Israel.

Egyptian authorities on Monday accused Ilan Grapel, an American-Israeli citizen in Egypt, of spying for Israel and ordered him held for 15 days.

A statement by Egypt’s public prosecutor said Mr. Grapel, first detained on Sunday, had been sent to Egypt to recruit agents. Egyptian officials have also accused him of incitement during the revolution and of trying to create strife between Egypt’s Muslims and Coptic Christians.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an interview with Mr. Grapel in 2006 after he was wounded while fighting as an Israeli combat soldier in that summer’s war in Lebanon.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Mr. Grapel had entered Egypt on his American passport and was therefore under the jurisdiction of the American Consulate in Egypt.

“He is certainly no spy or spook,” said Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry. “Why he was picked by the Egyptian authorities is beyond us.”

nytimes.com