Grapel To Bibi: Prison Was Hard but Fair

Home Free: Ilan Grapel smiles at his mother after landing in Israel. He was freed from an Egyptian jail in a prisoner swap. Image by getty images

By Haaretz October 27, 2011

Ilan Grapel, an American-Israeli citizen jailed in Cairo on suspicion of espionage for over four months, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Thursday after he was released. Grapel told the prime minister that he underwent difficult times in prison, but was treated fairly.

Grapel was freed in exchange for 25 Egyptian prisoners, all held on criminal charges, who were released to Egypt prior to his return.

Grapel landed at Ben-Gurion Airport Thursday evening accompanied by Kadima MK Yisrael Hasson and attorney Yitzhak Molcho who mediated the talks leading up to his release.

Grapel was met by his mother, Congressman Gary Ackerman whom Grapel worked for and American Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro.

The American-Israeli went with his mother straight from the airport to a short meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office in Jerusalem. Grapel thanked the prime minister for his efforts to secure his release, and told him about his time in prison.

“This was hanging on a thread and I am glad it worked,” Netanyahu said. “I am very grateful to the governments of Egypt and the United States.”

MK Hasson told Haaretz on Thursday that Grapel had explained that he had come to Cairo as part of his studies and because he was interested in the goings-on in Egypt.

“He said that he went to demonstrations out of curiosity, and never imagined that he would find himself in prison,” Hasson said.

According to Hasson, during the talks to secure Grapel’s release, the topic of Oda Tarabin, an Israeli that has been held in Egypt for 11 years, was brought up.

“The issue of Tarabin was on the table, and is still on the table and I hope it will end for the best. The less we speak about it, the better,” Hasson said.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO