Fifteen years ago, Ouda Tarabin was falsely accused by the Egyptian government of spying for Israel. He was imprisoned for espionage, and this week was finally released after years of negotiations and sent home to Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu vouched for Tarabin’s innocence, and worked hard to secure his release. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this story is that Tarabin is not Jewish – he’s Arab, one of the nomadic Bedouin tribes who live in Israel and have a positive relationship with the Israeli government.
The Egyptian government has a long, and often outlandish, history of accusing Israel of espionage despite more than 37 years of formal peace between the two countries. In recent years, Egypt has accused a dolphin, a shark, a stork, an eagle, and a duck of being subversive Mossad agents – among various human suspects as well. To be fair, Egypt is not alone in these claims. Turkey and the Palestinian Authority have also accused Israel of using trained animals as spies.
After working with three successive Egyptian presidents – Hosni Mubarak, Mohammad Morsi, and Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi – Netanyahu was able to persuade the Egyptian government that Ouda Tarabin deserved to come home. But as with all prisoner deals between Israel and Arab governments, Israel had to pay a hefty price for his release. In return for one man, Israel released six Egyptians from prison (three had completed their sentences, and three were serving time for crimes unrelated to national security).
“I am pleased that [Tarabin] is back with us. The state of Israel takes care of all its citizens, without exception,” said Netanyahu.
Tarabin thanked Netanyahu and Israeli President Rivlin for worrying about him and working on his behalf.
“It was good for me to be an Israeli citizen, to have an Israeli passport. Thank God that this country is the only one, one of the only ones, that will do everything for its citizens. Like America,” he said.
