Israel’s government approved the appointment of Amira Oron as the country’s new ambassador to Egypt on June 7, the first woman to ever serve in the position. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi congratulated Oron, hailing a competent and highly skilled diplomat. Ashkenazi stated he was sure that Oron would effectively promote bilateral relations.

The Foreign Ministry’s appointment committee selected Oron for the ambassadorship in October 2018, but her candidature was not brought for cabinet approval until today. The long delay was caused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was then serving also as foreign minister and had hoped to appoint Likud lawmaker Ayoud Kara instead. Ranked 39th spot on the Likud list for the 2018 elections, Kara did not make it into the Knesset. The next year, Netanyahu moved to compensate him by appointing him to the embassy in Cairo.

Netanyahu’s proposal generated public outcry. Oron is considered very experienced and Israel has always made a point of appointing highly professional ambassadors to Egypt, such as Haim Koren and David Govrin. Proposing a new candidate after one has already been picked was practically unheard of. To complicate things, Kara has been involved in several diplomatic incidents. For example, in 2016, he disclosed sensitive security information and the Moroccan government complained about Kara meeting with a representative of Western Sahara. Israeli parliamentarians objected to Kara’s nomination to the sensitive post and Netanyahu had to back off, leaving the position vacant.

All this time, Oron was left waiting for a decision to be made on one of Israel’s most strategic embassies. Many Israeli diplomats complained that the situation was unacceptable, that ties with Egypt were much too significant for the embassy in Cairo to function without an ambassador at its helm.