Three years after it withdrew its ambassador from Israel, when Operation Pillar of Defense was launched in Gaza, Egypt is about to send a new ambassador to its Tel Aviv embassy.
Hazem Hayrath, 57, who was a senior assistant to the Egyptian foreign minister until recently, was tapped as the new ambassador to Israel and will discharge his duties from the Jewish state.
He will replace the current ambassador, Atef Salem, who was urgently recalled to Cairo in November of 2012, just two months after his appointment, and has since been technically working as Cairo’s Israel ambassador – from Cairo. Salem was recalled by then-president Mohammed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, to protest Israel’s Gaza operation.
The formal changing of the guard is to take place in September.
Following the takeover by General Abdel Fattah a-Sisi in Egypt, Israel appointed a new ambassador to Cairo, Haim Koren. Since then, the countries have been discussing the return of the Egyptian ambassador to Israel.
The Foreign Ministry told Arutz Sheva that it is pleased with the appointment and that it hopes for fruitful cooperation with the new ambassador.