Vid of ‘Israeli envoy’ at Egypt wedding sparks anger

A video from the wedding of former Egyptian strongman Gamel Abdel Nasser’s grandson that purported to show Israel’s ambassador to Egypt at the event set off a social media firestorm in Egypt.

The video, which was aired on Channel 2 last week, was shot at the wedding of the son of Nasser’s daughter Muna Gamel Nasser and her husband, Ashraf Marwan.

Marwan, who died under mysterious circumstances in 2007, was named by an Israeli journalist in 2002 as having spied for Israel and passing on valuable intelligence in the run-up to the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Rumors that the man in the video was Ambassador David Govrin led to sharp criticism on social media by many Egyptians.

In one Youtube video played by Channel 2, an Egyptian man says, “Ashraf Marwan is the one who reported to the Zionist enemy of the plans for the 1973 war. Therefore, we are not surprised that his old and withered widow broke out in a dance in her short red dress with the Zionist ambassador in Cairo.”

The Foreign Ministry told Channel 2 that Govrin was not at the wedding. The man mistaken as Govrin was in fact the groom, the report said.

Despite having signed the 1978 Camp David Accords that established peace with Israel, many Egyptians still remain hostile to the Jewish state and are wary of its diplomatic relations with Egypt.

Nasser, who died in 1970, was one of the harshest critics among Arab leaders of Israel while president and was hailed as a hero of Arab nationalism for his anti-Western and anti-Zionist ideology across the Arab world.