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Egypt Ambassador returns to Israel after three-year hiatus
Hazem Khairat took up his new post over the weekend as Egypt’s first ambassador to Israel for three years, underscoring recent warm ties between the two countries.
Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 and formalised diplomatic relations a year later. The peace agreement has held firm since then, although relations have at times been little more than cordial. Egypt’s ambassador in Tel Aviv was recalled in 2012 during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defence in Gaza. However, since President al-Sisi came to power in 2013, relations between the two countries have warmed, with significant cooperation over the common threat of Islamist terror in the Sinai Peninsula and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel and Egypt are thought to have worked closely together during summer 2014 to bring an end to Operation Protective Edge.
Khairat previously served as Egypt’s representative at the Arab League and ambassador to Syria and Chile. Speaking in June, on the announcement of his appointment, Khairat said, “It’s something that has been, that is deeply welcomed in Israel and I think it’s very good for cementing the peace that exists between Egypt and Israel.” Days after the announcement, Dore Gold yesterday became the first Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry to visit Egypt’s capital Cairo since 2011.
Khairat’s arrival in Israel was welcomed yesterday by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told his cabinet, “I welcome his arrival and the re-stationing here of an Egyptian ambassador to Israel, something that will enable us to further strengthen relations within this important and key Arab country.” Meanwhile, former-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, now a leader of the Zionist Union, commented, “The new Egyptian ambassador’s arrival to Israel gives expression to our countries’ peace agreement and to the challenges we share with Egypt.”
Haim Koren was appointed as Israel’s Ambassador to Egypt in September 2014. However, diplomatic staff operate from an unofficial location, as the embassy itself was ransacked by a mob in 2011.