Israel’s newly appointed ambassador David Govrin arrived in Egyptian capital Cairo on Sunday to begin his diplomatic mission.

Govrin replaced Haim Koren, who served as Israel’s ambassador in Cairo for two years.

The Israeli diplomat, who served in the embassy in Cairo in the 1990s as first secretary, was named as the Jewish state’s envoy to Egypt last February.

Govrin, 53, had previously served as the head of the Jordan and Maghreb states desk at the Israeli foreign ministry.

Egypt was the first Arab country to recognise Israel following the signing of a peace treaty in 1979.

In 2012, former President Mohamed Morsi withdrew Egypt’s ambassador from Israel in protest of an Israeli offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip. But last year, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, who came to office following Morsi’s ouster by the military, decided to send in a new ambassador to Israel.

Last week, Egyptian Foreign Ministry Sameh Shoukry made a rare visit to Israel – the first since 2007 – for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about restarting the Middle East peace process.

Source: middleeastmonitor.com