Who needs an embassy anyway? Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is content with just having security ties with Egypt and not full civilian and diplomatic relations through an embassy, despite concerns from some officials, Times of Israel reports. “Israel pulled out Ambassador David Govrin and all of the embassy staff at the end of last year amid security concerns.” Sources said that Foreign Ministry representatives had complained that, without an active embassy in Cairo, “contacts between the two countries were reduced to talks with the Egyptian ambassador in Tel Aviv, making the upkeep of relations difficult. The result was a significant drop in relations impacting economic, civilian, and political ties.” Besides it not being a primary concern for Netanyahu, sources said the view is that “Egyptian army and security mechanisms manage most of Egypt’s foreign affairs anyway… So reopening the embassy is important, but the relations with the Egyptian army are more important.” Others reportedly said not having an Israeli embassy in Cairo is in line with Egyptian public opinion anyway. Sources told Haaretz part of the reason why the embassy has not been reopened is because of “foot-dragging” on some security measures requested by Israel.

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