“He isn’t a friend whose hand I would shake”, said El Shehaby, whose refrain was met by the crowd’s loud booing.
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The referee called him back but the Egyptian gave only a curt nod. One Egyptian television commentator said El Shehaby would be seen as a “traitor” by other Egyptians if he even fought.
El Shehaby claimed that many sources put pressure on him to forfeit the fight and that he made a decision to compete anyways because he doesn’t mix sport and politics.
El Shahaby had come under pressure from Islamist-leaning and nationalist voices in Egypt to withdraw entirely from the fight.
Sasson defeated Cuban Alex Garcia Mendoza, shortly after losing a sem-ifinal match to world champion Teddy Riner.
Female Judoka star Yarden Gerbi became the toast of Israel by claiming the country’s first Olympic medal in eight years when she took a bronze in the women’s under-63kg competition on Tuesday.
“I knew he would do it (snub him), so it wasn’t a surprise for me”, he told the AP. “But I can not say anything”.
Sasson, 25, described Friday as “a hard day” after four years of preparation but that he was satisfied with the outcome.
An IOC official said the organisation’s president, Thomas Bach, ordered the disciplinary commission as soon as he heard about the incident.
“Things happen in the heat of the moment that are not acceptable”, International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said.
“Sometimes over the course of such tournaments such things happen, but in general the idea of the Olympics is to build bridges between countries and nations, not destroy them”, the International Olympic Committee added.
El Shehaby, 32, had been reportedly pressured by fans on social media not to show up for the match with his Israeli opponent because it would shame Islam.
In a Facebook post, journalist Galal Nassar said: “As long as you agreed to play an Israeli champion in the Olympics, you should have exchanged the greeting”.
He wrote that El Shehaby’s move backfired, and the Israeli athlete ended up with more sympathy. “We have lost in terms of sports and politics”, Nassar said.
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Egypt was the first Arab power to make peace with Israel, in 1979, but the treaty remains unpopular among many Egyptians.
