Politics & Government

Update: Report: Local Man Accused of Spying for Israel Will Be Tried Within Days

Grapel was arrested in Cairo earlier this month after photographs of him in his Israeli Defense Force army uniform were posted on Facebook.

Update: 6/24, 8:09p.m.: A spokesman for Rep. Gary Ackerman says that Grapel has not been charged yet, and will not stand trial in coming days.

The young Oakland Gardens man arrested in Egypt on suspicion of espionage on behalf of Israel, Ilan Grapel, will stand trial within the next few days, The Jerusalem Post reports.

Grapel's father is a podiatrist with a practice in Bayside, reports the Times Ledger.

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Grapel had interned for Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-Bayside, and has been described as an Arabist. He arrived in Egypt in May to participate in the resettlement of African refugees, on a trip organized by Emory University, where he was a second year law student. 

An Israeli-American with dual citizenship, Grapel was arrested in Cairo earlier this month after photographs of him in his Israeli Defense Force army uniform, and separately, photos taken of him in Tahrir Square, were published on Facebook. 

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Ackerman Chairs the House Subcommittee on the Middle East, and has high ranking contacts in the region. He reportedly said he has been assured that Grapel is not an Israel mossad agent. “I have been assured from the highest levels in Israel... this kid had nothing to do with espionage,” Ackerman reportedly said, adding, “It’s an unfortunate mistake we’re trying to straighten out.”

Grapel was injured while serving in the IDF during the 2006 Lebanon War.


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