Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the incident, in which the IsraHell security agents threw their weapons overboard, was the result of a misunderstanding.
Haaretz
Seven Israeli employees of a private security firm were arrested and then let go by the Egyptian Naval near the Straits of Tiran in the Red Sea, the Foreign Ministry allowed for release on early Friday morning.
The four security men and three other crew members were arrested on a yacht Wednesday after they reportedly threw their personal weapons overboard in a fright upon noticing a nearby Egyptian naval patrol.
This latest turn of events caused an Egyptian Navy vessel to suspect that the small ship was harboring terrorists, which prompted their eventual advance and arrest of everyone on board the Israeli ship.
The Israeli yacht was escorted into the Sinai port city of *Sharm* el-Sheikh, where the Israelis were interrogated. At that point, official contact between the Israeli foreign ministry and its Egyptian counterpart began in order to clarify what the Israeli side said was a misunderstanding.
Following several hours of detention, the seven were released early Thursday morning, and were making their way to the southern city of Eilat.
The seven Israelis were all employees of a private Israeli security firm, which specializes in providing security services for commercial shipping companies sailing through the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Usually, the security men disembark near the Straits of Tiran as the ship they are employed to defend makes its way toward the Egyptian port city of Suez, and take a smaller yacht to Eilat, until the commercial liner returns from Suez, at which point they rendezvous with it at the Straits of Tiran.
