Israeli Ambassador to Egypt David Guvrin quietly returned home from Cairo several months ago, it was announced this week, amid security warnings that his safety was in jeopardy.
For the time being, Ambassador Guvrin will continue his work from an office in Jerusalem, according to a report posted by the Hebrew-language Ynet site.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nachshon told JewishPress.com the government has “no comment on the issue” at this point.
Last month, the ambassador met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at his official residence in Jerusalem to discuss his recent experiences in his post, together with Israeli Ambassador to Jordan Eynat Shlein.
HE Guvrin began his work in Cairo upon his formal presentation of credentials to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi last August.
Guvrin arrived in Cairo earlier in the summer to set up his accommodations, having replaced his predecessor of two years, Haim Koren, on July 17. He served in the Cairo embassy in the 1990s as first secretary, and was named as the new envoy to Egypt last February. Guvrin had most recently served as head of the Jordan and Morocco desk at Israel’s foreign ministry.
Although much has changed in Egypt over the past four years, some things remain the same: The Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers who tore apart the Israeli Embassy in Cairo and supported the rise of President Mohammed Morsi, though today outlawed, nevertheless are still attempting to overthrow the government of President El-Sisi.
It is also becoming more clear that Muslim Brotherhood supporters are linking up with the Sinai Province branch of the Islamic State (ISIS/Da’esh) terrorist organization based in the Sinai Peninsula, which maintains strong ties with Hamas in Gaza. In addition, the Muslim Brotherhood has also created ties with Islamic State in Jordan as well. Since Hamas was spawned by the Muslim Brotherhood, that group’s link with ISIS is now region-wide, creating a further risk to Israel.
Just a week ago, Islamic State terrorists launched a missile attack on Eilat from the Sinai Peninsula.
In addition, Hamas this week announced the election of a new leader for its Gaza-based terrorist organization.
Yahya Sinwar, 55, is a senior commander in the Izz a-Din al-Qassam military wing of Hamas, and is known as an extremist even by Hamas standards. He is replacing Gaza de facto “prime minister” Ismail Haniyeh, who plans to run for the leadership of the group’s international organization. Sinwar received four life sentences from an Israeli court for attacking and kidnapping Israeli citizens, but was released as part of the 2011 prisoner exchange deal to free former IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive by Hamas in Gaza for more than five years.