An Egyptian has been arrested for, among other things, declaring his love for Israel and apparently trying to travel to the Jewish state.
The 24-year-old was arrested in the Nile River city of Sohag for allegedly writing to Israeli nationals through Facebook and criticizing Egypt and Egyptians as well as declaring his love for Israel, reported the Egypt Independent, the English-language publication of the country's Al-Masry Al-Youm daily newspaper.
The paper said the man, Shenouda Ashraf Sobhy Zekry, allegedly had a tattoo of the Star of David on his arm.
The report said he had tried to travel to Israel, using Sudan as a travel corridor, but was unsuccessful.
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The Times of Israel noted Shenouda is a popular Coptic Christian name, but the Egyptian paper's report didn't say whether Zekry was Christian.
He was arrested by Sohag security services in collaboration with a national security agency branch in the governorate.
Authorities found in his home several identification cards listing different professions, an employee card from the South Sudan embassy, photographs of Israeli officials, several Israeli flags on his computer, two bullets, $100 in U.S. currency and a Hebrew dictionary, the report said.
Zekry also reportedly had met with Israeli tourists when he went to Sharm al-Sheikh to work as a driver at a tourist resort several years ago. Police said he was convinced at that point to travel to and live in Israel.
Police said he told them he tried to get a visa to travel to Israel but was unsuccessful.
The Egyptian paper posted to YouTube a video claiming to show Zekry at the Oum Al-massrieen General Hospital in Cairo. The video shows a man baring a tattoo on his forearm and declaring: “I’m Israeli, not Egyptian. I don’t want to stay Egyptian because of what happened to the youth [of Egypt].”