BICOM

Israel’s political-security Cabinet yesterday unanimously approved a prisoner exchange deal that will ensure the freeing of Ilan Grapel, a citizen of Israel and of the US who is currently incarcerated in Egypt. 25 Egyptian citizens currently held by Israel will be freed in return for Grapel, who has been held in Egypt for four months, without being formally charged. Kadima Knesset member and former senior Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) official Yisrael Hasson has played the leading role in mediating the deal from the Israeli side.

In a statement yesterday, Hasson said that the conclusion of the deal represented a positive indication for future relations between Israel and Egypt. He noted that the deal to free Gilad Shalit could also not have been achieved without Egyptian mediation. Hasson said that this showed that contrary to earlier expectations, the new reality in Egypt following the fall of President Hosni Mubarak did not mean necessarily a major deterioration in relations between Jerusalem and Cairo.