Queens guy no spy: Israel
He may be an odd duck, but he’s no mole.
Israel’s foreign minister yesterday vehemently denied that a law student from Queens — arrested in Egypt on spy charges Sunday — is working for Israeli intelligence services.
Ilan Grapel, 27, “is just a student, perhaps a little strange or a little careless,” said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. “He has no connection to any intelligence apparatus, not in Israel, not in the US and not on Mars.”
Egyptian authorities and media claim that Grapel has met with members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood, and was attempting to foment more unrest in Egypt on the heels of President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.
Grapel is an Emory Law student who has dual US-Israeli citizenship. His interest in Egypt doesn’t extend beyond his love of the Arab language and culture, according to his parents, a NY Philharmonic viola player and podiatrist who live in Hollis Hills.
