A home-made bomb exploded in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing security sources and the website of the local Al-Ahram newspaper. Security sources said the explosion targeted a police car parked near the embassy, rather than the embassy itself. No one was hurt in the explosion, according to the report. In 2011, in the chaos that ensued in Egypt after the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, the Israeli embassy came under attack by an angry mob who tore down the barrier around the embassy and broke in, proceeding to light parts of the embassy on fire and throw documents out the windows. Egyptian commandos rescued several security guards who were trapped inside at the last minute, after intervention by President Barack Obama. The building has not been used by the Israeli embassy since that incident. In August of 2012, 76 people were convicted on charges of attacking the Israeli embassy. Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist president who replaced Mubarak, repeatedly said he would continue to maintain the peace with Israel and uphold international documents signed by prior Cairo administrations, but mostly gave Israel the cold shoulder while in office. Morsi’s ouster and his replacement with a military-backed regime appeared to calm the tension between the countries. In October, the Israeli foreign ministry named Middle East specialist Haim Koren as the Jewish state's next ambassador to Egypt.
