- NEW YORK: A US-Israeli citizen imprisoned in Egypt for four months on allegations he spied for Israel has returned home to New York after gaining his freedom in a prisoner swap.
Emory University law student Ilan Grapel arrived at Kennedy Airport on Saturday morning, looking tired and thin but wearing a huge smile.
The 27-year-old says he was arrested while attending a demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on June 12. He says that after spending the summer in an Egyptian jail, he has a new appreciation for the American legal system.
He was released Thursday in a deal that also freed 25 Egyptians held in Israeli jails.
Israel has denied that Grapel is a spy. He had been volunteering at a legal aid group in Cairo when he was arrested.
