Unlike previous years, members of the small Jewish community in Cairo decided not to celebrate Hanukkah in one of the synagogues this year, reported this morning (Sunday) by Kan Bet.
According to the report, the decision stems from the atmosphere in Egypt since the beginning of the war. A community member explained: "No one is preventing us from celebrating, it’s just that the mood in Cairo is pretty bad because of the war."
According to him, antisemitism in Egypt has seen a significant jump since the beginning of the war. He pointed out that there have recently been positive developments in the relationship between the Egyptian government and the Jewish community, and the war undid all that. "All our progress went down the drain, we have to start from scratch."
Members of the community, which numbers only a few Jews, still managed to celebrate Rosh Hashanah in one of the city's synagogues.
Since the beginning of the war, two Israeli tourists were murdered in Egypt by a policeman in an attack in Alexandria, and another tourist guide was murdered.