Amira Oron confirmed as new ambassador to Egypt

The government approved the appointment of Amira Oron as ambassador to Egypt, the first full-time envoy to the Arab country in more than 18 months, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi’s office says.

Oron was selected for the ambassadorship by the Foreign Ministry in October 2018, but a vote on her appointment was delayed as Netanyahu instead considered appointing Likud lawmaker Ayoub Kara to the post.

Diplomatic staff made public appeals to the government to install Oron, who previously served in the Egyptian capital and headed the Foreign Ministry’s Egypt division, rather than Kara, who has been responsible for a series of diplomatic embarrassments. Kara eventually withdrew his candidacy.

Oron will take over for David Govrin, who took up the post in 2016, and will be the first female envoy to Egypt.

In 2017, Govrin and his staff returned to Israel for eight months due to unspecified security threats. Upon their return to Egypt, they resumed work from the envoy’s suburban Cairo home.

Additionally, Bat Eden Kite has been confirmed as the next ambassador to Turkmenistan, the statement says.

“I welcome the appointment of both ambassadors,” Ashkenazi says. “They are experienced, professional and esteemed diplomats, and I am convinced they will advance the bilateral relations between the State of Israel and the countries in which they serve to new heights.”