An short news item in al-Masry al-Youm says that 13% of the Israeli army's civilian employees are Egyptians, "according to recent reports in the Israeli media".

I'm curious to know more but the report has no further information beyond saying that the Egyptian ministry of manpower estimates there are 20,000-30,000 Egyptians living in Israel.

I have been searching for the Israeli media reports but can't find them – at least nothing in English. Can any reader cast more light on this?

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 18 Dec 2010.