Israel’s ambassador to Egypt met with Foreign Ministry officials to request clarification as to why Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit had referred to Israel as an “enemy state” in recent statements made from Beirut.
A Foreign Ministry source, meanwhile, denied that the ambassador had lodged an official complaint with the ministry, as was reported in Israeli Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
According to the same source, the ambassador was told that Lebanon considered Israel an enemy state and that Abul Gheit had therefore meant that Egypt was not in a position to relay messages between two enemies.
Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Dar, meanwhile, reported that Tel Aviv had heavily criticized Egypt in the Israeli press for the FM’s statement and had summoned Egypt’s ambassador for an explanation.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
