Egypt Arrests Former Israeli Soldier in Sinai

Cairo, 19 Shafar 1434/1 January 2013 (MINA) – Egyptian security officials say they have arrested a former sergeant in the Israeli army after he illegally entered from Israel into the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.

The authorities say the 24 year-old unarmed Israeli entered Egypt near the Taba crossing, according to ABC reports monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Tuesday.

He was detained by Egyptian authorities Monday. The officials say he was trying to reach the Gaza Strip through Sinai to fight alongside Palestinians. They identified him as Andre Yaacoub.

Also known as Andre Pshenichnikov, a Jewish immigrant to Israel from Tajikistan, he made headlines earlier this year when he announced he wanted to renounce his Israeli citizenship and move to a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank.

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The Egyptian officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. (T/R-011/R-006)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)