Israel's new ambassador to Egypt is expected to depart for Cairo on Monday, the Foreign Ministry announced Saturday evening.
But because no secure embassy building yet exists for Israel in the Egyptian capital, Yaakov Amitai will temporarily operate from his residence.Foreign Ministry officials said they have not yet found a new building in which to place the Israeli embassy, which formally was located close to Cairo University, a hotbed of anti-Israeli sentiment.
Former Ambassador to Egypt Yitzchak Levanon returned to Israel in September after escaping a mob that stormed the Cairo embassy and completely trashed the facility.The Egyptian daily Al Ahram newspaper later reported that some 150 attackers who broke in to the embassy said they were paid by an unnamed millionaire to storm the building.
The interim Egyptian government, however, blamed the riot on "outside agitators."
Levanon returned to Cairo late last month for a quick meeting with his Egyptian counterpart that formally ended his term as ambassador, and then flew back to Israel.