Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Israel has been unable to restore a diplomatic
presence in Egypt.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has failed to find another embassy after
the storming of its facility in September 2011. Diplomatic sources said
Egyptians refused to lease a building for the Israeli embassy and related
facilities in Cairo.

“This is the first time since 1980 that there is no Israeli embassy in Egypt,” a diplomat said. “And there is little indication that this will change in the short-term.”

The sources said a skeleton Israeli diplomatic presence has been
operating out of the residence of ambassador Yaakov Amitai. They said most of the embassy staffers returned to Israel in late March along with the contents of the damaged facility. Most of the staff of the Israel Academic Center has also been evacuated.

An Egyptian official acknowledged that Israel has not found a new site for the embassy. He said the Israeli Foreign Ministry decided not to return to the downtown Cairo premises stormed by hundreds of Islamists last fall.

“The Israelis wanted a building in October 6 [suburb of Cairo],” the
official said. “But they withdrew when the Palestinians chose a site in the
area for their embassy.”

Yitzhak Levanon, Israel’s ambassador to Egypt until November 2011, said
the new Muslim Brotherhood-dominated parliament was blocking any engagement
with Israel. But Levanon said Egypt’s military regime did not seek to sever
the peace treaty with Israel.

“There are still security contacts at the upper levels between Israel
and Egypt, and this is because there is an interest on both sides,” Levanon
said. “But there are no bilateral relations.”

  Israel has had no embassy in Egypt since September incident, Israeli Ambassador Yaakov Amitai, Israeli embassy in Cairo, Muslim Brotherhood-dominated parliament, Yitzhak Levanon