One would expect Israel’s ambassador to Egypt to have some difficulties surrounding the situation in Gaza, but for Ambassador Shlomo Cohen, this is not the case, at least not in the context of this report.

Cohen, who is quite serious about remaining in good physical condition, habitually works twice a day in a facility near his suburban Cairo home. To his dismay, another serious member of the same facility is a senior Egyptian judge, who has decided he does not enjoy the current situation, prompting him to file a complaint, not against the ambassador, but against his security personnel, who the judge insists are “embittering” his life.

Justice Muhammad Jaber told police that since Cohen arrived in the gym his life has been ruined. He maintains that each time the ambassador arrives at or leaves the Golden Gym he is compelled to wait. The facility is located in the top two floors of an exclusive apartment complex.

The judge explains there are five security guards, Israeli and Egyptian, and he is compelled to wait while the ambassador travels up or down in the elevator. His presence the judge explains complicates his retrieving his vehicle, and he is frequently compelled to show identification when the ambassador is present.

Israeli officials confirm that Cohen indeed works out in Golden Gym since his former facility located in the American School in the Amadi district of Cairo has closed. Israeli officials stress the ambassador has not requested that anyone in the building change their routine but it is very possible security personnel have implemented certain restrictions due to security considerations.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)