A meeting in Egypt between an academic and the Israeli ambassador has reignited the debate over whether it is legitimate for Egyptians to have cultural, academic or other exchanges with Israelis.

Hala Mustafa, a writer and political scientist at a think-tank attached to the main state-owned newspaper Al Ahram, has been the target of fierce attacks in the press because she received in her office the Israeli ambassador, who wanted to discuss the organisation of a conference. A committee at the journalists’ union was discussing on Tuesday whether Ms Mustafa should be punished for breaching the union’s ban on normalisation with Israel.