The vanguard of Israel’s first diplomatic mission to Cairo has delayed its arrival there at the request of Egyptian authorities. Dr. Yosef Hodass, the Charge d’Affaires and Zvi Gabbai, First Secretary, were due in the Egyptian capital today to open the Israel Embassy. But a cable from Cairo, received at the Foreign Ministry here shortly before midnight last night, asked them to postpone their departure. No reason was given.
Israeli officials reacted in a low key to the delay, apparently anxious not to mar the normalization process with Egypt that began over the weekend by appearing disturbed. The technical team assigned to accompany the Israeli diplomats did go to Cairo today as planned. They will prepare the new Israeli Embassy located in a six flat apartment block in Cairo’s Zomalek quarter. An Egyptian advance party is due in Tel Aviv next week to seek premises for the Egyptian Embassy and prepare them for diplomatic work.
Hadass and Gabai are now expected to go to Cairo when the Egyptians arrive in Tel Aviv. Israel’s Ambassador to Egypt, Eliahu Ben-Elissar, is scheduled to present his credentials to President Anwar Sadat on Feb. 26 and the Israeli Embassy will start to function the following day.
WEIZMAN IN CHARGE OF NORMALIZATION MACHINERY
Meanwhile, the Cabinet yesterday put Defense Minister Ezer Weizman in charge of the normalization machinery. it acted in response to Egypt’s earlier announcement that Defense Minister Kamal Hassan Ali would oversee the normalization process on the Egyptian side.
The Cabinet’s decision triggered complaints from the Foreign Ministry that it represented a further whittling away of its authority. Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan resigned last Oct. 21 and still has not been replaced. Premier Menachem Begin has been handling the functions of Foreign Minister in the interim.
Ben-Elissar made it clear last night that he would serve in Cairo under the aegis of the Foreign Ministry. However, since Sadat has appointed Ali to handle normalization, Ben-Elissar said he would deal with the Egyptian Defense Minister and his staff on those matters and would report back both to Weizman and the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.
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