TEL-AVIV: An Israeli citizen is facing criminal charges over throwing stones at the Egyptian Consulate in Eilat near the site where infiltrators attacked the passenger buses last month and caused tension in relations between both countries. The accused lawyer said his agent, David Macmill (24), was drunk when he stoned the consulate, which overlooks the Red Sea, on Sunday. The lawyer added Macmill expressed his apology after being arrested. Macmill is facing a court verdict of four years in prison over harming the flag or symbol of a friendly state deliberately, according to accusing executives in Beer Sheba Court, South Israel. "He neither has any political objective nor hostility against the consulate, and the Egyptian flag just captured his eyes," his lawyer, Tamar Ullman, said. Israel previously said Palestinian gunmen inflators from Sinai Peninsula and killed eight Israel persons near Eilat on August 18. Israeli troops killed five Egyptian soldiers along the Egyptian-Israeli borders during clashes with the gunmen. Consequently, Egypt threatened to withdraw its ambassador from Tel-Aviv as a protest over the incidents at the borders. The demonstrations aroused outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo and an Egyptian man brought down the Israeli flag from atop of the embassy. When Macmill threw the first stone, he asked two workers of the consulate if this building belongs to the Egyptian mission. The workers replied, "Yes." He then proceeded to throw more stones along with using abusive language. The Egyptian Consul Deputy in Eilat said the workers saw Macmill throwing stones at the consulate, so they called the police. No one was injured, according to an Egyptian diplomat.
