JERUSALEM – A senior Israeli defence official said on Saturday that it was not yet clear who had killed three Egyptian security personnel in a border incident and that an investigation had been launched to establish who was responsible.
Egypt said on Saturday it was withdrawing its ambassador from Israel pending an investigation by the Jewish state of the border killings and demanded an apology for statements accusing the Egyptian military of losing its grip on the Sinai peninsula.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was consulting with cabinet ministers about a potential response, an official said on condition of anonymity, regarding what has become a diplomatic incident with the new Egyptian military rulers installed after a revolt overthrew long-time ally Hosni Mubarak in February.
An army officer and two Egyptian security men died when Israeli troops pursued gunmen who killed eight Israelis on a road running close to the Egyptian border on Thursday. Seven Egyptian security men were wounded.
Senior Israeli defence official Amos Gilad said the investigation was set up to find out just who killed the Egyptians.
"No (Israeli) soldier intentionally aims any weapons at Egyptian police or soldiers," Gilad told Israel Radio, "… perhaps terrorists fired at them, or something else occurred."
"This must all be investigated professionally in order to reach a factual basis on which decisions can be made," he said.
Israel sees its relations with Egypt, the first Arab country with which it made peace, as stable, Gilad said, calling its treaty a "fundamental element of existence in the Middle East." Gilad said relations were based on "dialogue and cooperation".
The treaty signed in 1979 was the first of two agreements Israel has ever concluded with an Arab country. A treaty with Jordan was signed in 1994.
Egypt has withdrawn its envoys to the Jewish State in the past, notably during a Palestinian uprising about a decade ago and during a 1982 war in Lebanon.
