An Egyptian lawmaker and TV talk show host has been expelled from parliament over a meeting he had with the Israeli ambassador to Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel.
The controversy over the meeting began when the ambassador, Haim Koren, posted a picture last week on the embassy's Facebook page of himself and Tawfiq Okasha.
Okasha's expulsion was decided in a vote Wednesday by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers. It came three days after a heavily publicized incident in which a lawmaker hit him with his shoe to protest the meeting.
Egypt and Israel closely coordinate on security issues, especially over the Sinai Peninsula, but directly dealing with Israelis in any field remains a taboo for Egyptians.
