JERUSALEM – Demonstrators stormed the embassy, in the heart of Cairo, on Sept. 9, 2011, in protest after five Egyptian security guards were killed by Israeli soldiers, in sequence during a statement on Tuesday, Israel’s PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, went back on prior remarks in which he had threatened to send commandos to Cairo in 2011 to rescue Israeli security staff said to be besieged by demonstrators who had took over Israel’s embassy.
Netanyahu said there were no intentions to mount an operation on their own, but only in coordination with Egyptian authorities and added that the intention was coordinated with Egyptian authorities.
“We are pleased that there was no need for this and thank the Egyptian army, which handled the crisis in a responsible manner and brought about a solution to the problem” a statement from Netanayhu’s office said..
Netanayhu said “A wild mob … came to slaughter our people, and that evening we used all the tools at our disposal, including a threat of an Israeli military rescue operation – something that ultimately was the deciding factor and brought the Egyptian forces (to the scene).”
“A wild mob … came to slaughter our people, and that evening we used all the tools at our disposal, including a threat of an Israeli military rescue operation – something that ultimately was the deciding factor and brought the Egyptian forces (to the scene),” he said.
Ahmed Abu Zeid, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the ministry had no information of internal Israeli discussion of such kind at the time, adding that Egypt’s government “bears the responsibility of providing protection to any foreign diplomatic mission on Egyptian soil according to its international obligations … and continues to do so”.
Noting that no specific reference was made in Netanyahu’s original comments about U.S. involvement in helping resolve the crisis and his telephone call at the time with U.S. President Barack Obama, and the involvement of other top U.S. officials.