11 May 2016•Update: 11 May 2016
By Kaamil Ahmed
JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backtracked on claims made Tuesday that he had threatened to send Israeli troops into Cairo to rescue Israeli diplomatic staff in the aftermath of Egypt’s 2011 popular uprising.
Israel Radio quoted Netanyahu as saying later on Tuesday that his earlier comments had referred to proposals for a coordinated mission with the Egyptian government to extricate the diplomats from Cairo -- not a unilateral operation by Israeli forces.
Netanyahu made the first comments in a speech delivered at Israel's Foreign Ministry, during which he praised the efforts of the Israeli intelligence services to protect diplomatic personnel overseas.
In September 2011, seven months after autocratic Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down amid a popular uprising, thousands of Egyptian protesters besieged the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
Israeli diplomats inside the building were later rescued by Egyptian troops.
