The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided to extend the mission of Ambassador Shalom Cohen in Cairo for three more months till August 2009. A senior source at the Israeli Foreign Ministry told Haaretz that Lieberman backed away from appointing a new ambassador in Cairo due to the tension between Cairo and the Israeli Foreign Ministry since he took office in Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Haaretz said the former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had also failed to find a suitable replacement for Cohen. All ambassadors have declined the position due to the popular boycott imposed on the Israeli ambassador in Cairo and the siege of the embassy. The source said Lieberman is looking for someone who has his same political inclinations, and that he has postponed the move temporarily until relations improve between him and the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, who said he would not shake hands with Lieberman. The Israeli Foreign Ministry fears that the Egyptians would not allow any new ambassador to submit his credentials before Lieberman solves his differences with the political leadership in Egypt.
