CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has appointed Atef Salem to replace Ambassador to Israel Yasser Ridah, Egyptian media reported on Sunday. Israel's newspapers confirmed the report through unnamed sources at the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv. Salem was previously the Consul-General in Eilat and is already in Israel to take up his new post. The new ambassador also previously worked as deputy foreign minister for cultural affairs. Salem, a Cairo University communications and political science major, had been previously posted in Russia, Thailand, China, Holland and Mali. During his time in Eilat, his wife Suha and three kids remained in Cairo. Ridah, the outgoing ambassador, assumed the position four years ago. Last year, he was recalled to Cairo after three Egyptian officers were killed by the IDF during hunt for Sinai terrorists. He was preceded in the position by Mohammed Assem Ibrahim who took the reins from Mohammed Basyouni, who served as Egypt's Ambassador to Israel for nearly two decades.