Almost a year after her appointment as Israel's Ambassador to Egypt, Amira Oron shares she is nearly done revitalizing Israel's Cairo Embassy—originally marked by underperformance in the absence of leadership.
David Gorvin had served as the acting ambassador but eventually left the position vacant, resulting in stalled diplomatic capabilities in the absence of a permanent representative. Amira Oron assumed the ambassadorship months following his resignation, filling the position in June 2020.
In a phone call interview with a newspaper in Israel, Amira Oron explained the situation; "many things were left undone and not operating the way they should" and "we needed to go back to the way an embassy should operate." Fortunately, the freshly appointed ambassador reassured that they are almost done resolving this hectic situation.
Amira Oron has ample experience and a wealth of knowledge concerning Egypt, recently leading the Foreign Ministry's Middle East Economic Relations Department, as well as previously serving as the highest diplomat to Turkey. As the "Chargé d'Affaires," a diplomat serving in the absence of an ambassador, she filled the vacancy created in the aftermath of the Gaza Flotilla Raid.
Egypt received Amira Oron with open arms, as she added in the phone call; "I think [having an ambassador] was missed by everybody, and it was quite needed [for someone] to come back and to re-energize our activity at the embassy."
Heeding the recent negotiations to normalize relations with its neighbors, Israel hopes that the initiative will spark new trade interest between Israel and Egypt. The "Abraham Accords" are a series of agreements, labeled as a groundbreaking step for regional peace, struck in 2020. Unfortunately, Oron believes Cairo is unlikely to be swayed by the deals as public sentiment has yet to follow suit.
Mediated by the former Trump Administration in August of 2020, the initial agreement aimed to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and Bahrain. Morocco and Sudan followed suit, agreeing to normalize relations with Israel, marking the third and fourth nations to join the accords within the span of a year.
Energy, another point of continued cooperation, has been led by the EastMed Gas Forum. The EastMed Gas Forum is a multilateral organization of several member states, including Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and Palestine. The organization provides a platform for member nations and companies to cooperate on projects relating to regional production and gas distribution— Egypt being the largest producer of gas among the member states.
Egypt has ramped up production from its liquified natural gas facilities, exporting gas to Europe and bringing high revenues to Cairo, following a gas export treaty between Israel and Egypt in 2018.
Unwilling to comment on rumors of an upcoming meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Prime Minister of Israel and President of Egypt, Amira Oron stated Israel is looking to set a sit-down between both leaders.
Section Editor: Alberto André Najarro
Section: Global Politics
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