Sisi names Egypt's first ambassador to Israel in three years

CAIRO – Egypt has named a new ambassador to Israel in a move that fills a position that has been vacant since former President Mohamed Morsi recalled the envoy three years ago.

Hazem Khairat, an assistant foreign minister for diplomatic and consular affairs, was named the Egyptian ambassador to Israel, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Khairat will replace Atem Salem, who had been recalled from Israel by Morsi in 2012 in protest over an Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Salem will now serve as Egypt’s ambassador to Cuba.

The new appointment was immediately welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"This is an important piece of news," Netanyahu said during a meeting with visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. "We appreciate it."

"It’s something that has been, that is deeply welcomed in Israel, and I think it’s very good for cementing the peace that exists between Egypt and Israel."

Though Egypt and Israel signed a landmark peace treaty in 1979, the two countries still remain in a state of cold peace.

Israel, which had occupied Egypt's Sinai Peninsula for six years prior to the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, is still seen in an overwhelmingly negative light among much of the Egyptian public.