New Israeli Ambassador to Egypt David Govrin waits to present his credentials to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo on Wednesday. Photo: Twitter.

JNS.org – Israel reportedly pulled its ambassador to Egypt out of the country in late 2016, due to security concerns.

Ambassador David Govrin, who took over the post last year, was quietly removed from Egypt over concerns for his safety and has since been working from Jerusalem, Israeli officials told The Telegraph. There are hopes that Govrin will return to Egypt soon, according to the report.

Israel had reopened its embassy in Cairo in 2015, four years after a mob invaded the embassy, forcing staff to barricade themselves in a safe room until Egyptian commandos rescued them following American intervention.

The report of Govrin’s withdrawal was first reported on Facebook by an Egyptian political analyst, Amin el-Mahdy, who claimed the move was due to Israeli-Egyptian tension over the situation in Gaza.

“Why is Netanyahu is [sic] hiding from his people the details of his conflict with the Egyptian military junta, and with Sisi, his staunch ally?” el-Mahdy wrote on Facebook.

Israeli officials denied there was a political reason for the ambassador’s withdrawal, according to The Telegraph, but they did not identify a specific security threat.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report.