Ilan Grapel who was released from Egypt in exchange for 25 prisoners: "I was in Egypt on a public interest grant. They didn't torture me."
By Elad Benari
First Publish: 11/16/2011, 3:14 AM
Grapel and Netanyahu
Israel news photo: Flash 90
Ilan Grapel, the American-Israeli who was released from an Egyptian prison a few weeks ago, gave an interview on Tuesday to CNN.
Grapel was arrested by the Egyptians in June on charges of spying for Israel. He was released in exchange for 25 Egyptian prisoners who were held in Israel.
Grapel claimed that he thought that the best way to “get off the radar” would be to be “upfront and flagrantly Israeli.” ("Upfront" - ?! If this was a "Grant" to aid Arabs, why did you feel the need to lie and place Israel in the line of fire? Are you trying to say you had no idea how the Egyptian government/military felt about Israel? Not buying your poor excuse! The US could not even gain your freedom without the assistance of Israel - great cover for your U.S. "Grant". Understanding your lie, we now understand why it was necessary for Israel to broker the deal for your darn release!)
(What a dimwit! This explanation has got to be one of the most ignorant ever made by someone who should have known better - having served in the IDF, you cannot convenience me he actually believes the stuff he's saying! Perhaps someone should ask Grapel which country he holds a sense of loyalty to - the United States (born and grew up), Israel-dual citizenship; or the "Arab Muslim" world?)
Speaking about his actual arrest, Grapel said he woke up in his hotel room one night to find that about 30 men in civilian clothes had barged in.
“They asked for my nationality and I said American-Israeli,” he said. “They said, ‘Come with us.’ I thought it was about a police report I filed (about a dispute over a bill) and then I quickly found out, when they put on the handcuffs, that this wasn’t the issue.”
“They took me downstairs, I saw an unmarked van, and then I was blindfolded, put in the van and taken to the prosecutor’s office where the interrogations began,” he added.
He said he had not been tortured while in prison and that he was only placed in solitary confinement.
When asked whether he is upset that Israel had to release 25 prisoners for him, Grapel answered, “I understand that Egypt needed something to show their people and when they realized they made a mistake the only thing they could do was release people. I don’t think they cared about [these prisoners] themselves, but they wanted to show their people that they released [Egyptians] from the Israeli regime.” (He shows no remorse or regret for the trouble Israel went through, by the release of these prisoners, to obtain his freedom! You worthless, ungrateful "the world owes you a living"fool)
The deal Israel signed to free Grapel was criticized by some, who said the deal made Israel appear weak since it was surrendering to Egyptian demands.
One of those critics was Meir Indor, Head of the Almagor Terror Victims’ organization.
“The Egyptian government, no matter how they try to paint it, kidnapped a citizen, accused him of spying and then got off that idea,” Indor said. “But they’re saying, ‘Before you get him back, you’ll pay us with security prisoners. This is a bad sign for the future, because other countries are standing in line...By Israel surrendering in the Grapel affair, it is signaling that the kidnapping method pays off.and, more information from Debbie Schlussel (below):
November 15, 2011, - 4:21 pm
Immigration OUTRAGE: Obama Spent $s, Sent Israeli to Give Egyptian Rebels US Citizenship
So much for Obama’s Egyptian “revolution.” It not only destabilized the Middle East and will hand Egypt over to Muslim thugs, but it turns out that Obama also gave a cash grant to an Israeli/American citizen to bring Muslims involved in the Egyptian “revolution” to the U.S. and give them green cards and a “path to citizenship.” And this grant cost Israel, bigtime, resulting in the release of 25 Egyptian terrorists from Israeli prisons. As you’ll recall, the U.S. was heavily involved in the negotiations to bring Ilan Grapel, the Israeli/American leftist who went to Egypt at the height of the protests in Tahrir Squre. As I noted Grapel was working for Muslims, not Israel, and I wondered why the U.S. was so involved in getting Israel to release the 25 terrorists for Grapel’s freedom. Now, we know the truth.
Barack Hostage Crisis: Obama Spent Your $ to Send Leftist Israeli Grapel to Egypt to Give Muslims U.S. Citizenship