Egypt has retaliated for Israeli security limits at the Temple Mount by banning the dedication of the restored 19th century Maimonides (Rav Moshe) Synagogue. Eighteen months of work and $2 million were poured into the project. However, Egypt has allowed Jews to open the doors and use the house of worship, although without a public ceremony.
Government officials kept a low profile during the restoration project and refused to allow journalists to enter the synagogue after the dedication was cancelled.
Egyptian antiquities official Zahi Hawass said that Egypt respects Jewish sites, “the opposite of what Israel is doing in Jerusalem with Muslim monuments” and that the ceremony was cancelled "because of what the Israelis are doing with Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.”
Israel on Wednesday morning relaxed security restrictions on entry to the Temple Mount and Arab mosques in the area that had been temporarily instituted due to violent riots, which including shooting and stoning attacks on Israeli police.
Following the original announcement that the cancellation was due to Israeli actions, Hawass claimed that the move was due to “dancing and drinking alcohol in the synagogue” during an earlier private Jewish ceremony. He said dancing and drinking at a state-sponsored dedication would “provoke the feelings of millions of Muslims in Egypt and across the world."
The antiquities project in Egypt included restoring a school that was used by the 12th century Jewish scholar Maimonides, who also was the personal doctor and adviser to the Egyptian ruler at the time.
Less than 100 Jews are thought to be living in Cairo, and the synagogue will serve mainly as a tourist attraction. The American Jewish Committee has asked Egypt to transform one of its restored synagogues into a Jewish heritage museum.