The new Israeli ambassador to Egypt began his term this week amid controversy as to whether he's the best man for the job, Doaa El-Bey reports Yitzhak Levanon, 65, was chosen the new Israeli ambassador to Egypt in November. However, it took some time for him to be formally approved, a sign there was opposition to his selection. The position of the Israeli ambassador to Egypt is a difficult one given the ups and downs in Egyptian-Israeli relations. Though Egypt signed a peace agreement with Israel more than 30 years ago, the majority of Egyptians are against any form of normalisation with Tel Aviv until it returns all Arab lands captured in 1967. Shalom Cohen, Levanon's predecessor, spent five years in Egypt. Although he spent one year more than his term allows -- because of the difficulty in finding a suitable replacement -- he was mostly an isolated figure. He moved amid tight security, reportedly more than that of the US ambassador. There were several attempts on his life although none was ever officially confirmed. Shaoul Camessa was suggested last July as a possible successor to Cohen. However, the fact that Camessa came from a military rather than a diplomatic background and that he is a personal friend of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman reduced his chances. He is also a member of the Israeli rightist party Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home). Levanon's job could be more difficult than Cohen's. Although he was born in Lebanon and can speak Arabic fluently, Levanon could suffer from his family background. He is the son of Shula Cohen, a spy and a Mossad agent who was sentenced to death in Lebanon in 1961 after being found guilty of spying for Israel for 14 years between 1947 and 1961. However, she was released in 1967 as part of a prisoner exchange in the aftermath of the 1967 war between Israel and its Arab neighbours that year. She now lives in Jerusalem. She was also part of a network which caused the bankruptcy of the Lebanese economy after transferring money to the Zionist Agency, then to Israel. She was also involved in helping Jews to immigrate to Israel after taking everything they could from Arab countries. Shula's uncles and brothers were also engaged in criminal acts against native Palestinians. Levanon is also brother of David Kishik, an extremist squatter who lives in a settlement in the West Bank near Nablus. Levanon is also known as a fanatical extremist who defended Israeli war crimes in Gaza and rejected the Goldstone Report by saying the Israeli army does not need someone like Goldstone to tell them to investigate massacres. The new Israeli ambassador presented his credentials to Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and then to President Hosni Mubarak. Levanon has held several senior diplomatic positions, including ambassador of Israel to UN organisations in Geneva, consul of Israel to Canada, and consul-general in Boston and Montreal. Before coming to Egypt he was director-general of Arab media relations at the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
