(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israeli Embassy in Cairo is expected to resume routine activities in the near future, after six years of operating only partially, Israeli officials said Tuesday.
In 2011, under tight security the embassy was evacuated to the Cairo airport after the building was attacked by an angry mob.
Since then, the embassy has only been partially operational. Last December, due to credible threats about a possible terror attack on the embassy, Israel’s ambassador to Egypt was summoned home. Israel asked the Egyptian authorities to implement a series of security measures before returning the ambassador, but Egypt denied the requests.
Officials in the Foreign Ministry said the ambassador’s eight-month absence was significant and that it marked the longest period of time the embassy had remained unmanned since the two countries signed their peace treaty in 1979.
Haaretz Tuesday reported that an Israeli delegation, comprising officials from the Foreign Ministry and Shin Bet Security agency, met with senior Egyptian officials ahead of the embassy’s reopening. According to the report, the meeting was not the first of its kind.
Israel is demanding new security measures around the embassy and the ambassador’s residence. One Israeli diplomat noted that Israel’s relationship with Egypt on matters of security and defense is conducted out of the public eye, but at the highest levels and in a positive manner.
Originally posted at JNS.
