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Source: http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Egyptian-Jewish-antiquities-uncared-for-as-community-dwindles-438736
Egypt Rebuffs Israel's Requests for Threatened Jewish Artifacts
(Jerusalem Post) Ariel Ben Solomon - Zvi Mazel, Israel's sixth ambassador to Egypt, told the Jerusalem Post that the presence of Jews in Egypt has come to almost a total end. From a population of 80,000 Jews in the 1950s, less than 20 remain today. They left behind an immense cultural heritage, including Torah scrolls and a huge amount of books and manuscripts. The artifacts "belong to the Jews. Israel has asked the authorities many times to allow for their transfer to synagogues in Israel, or at least the Torah scrolls, which are rotting there," Mazel said, but these requests were rebuffed. "There is no logic in that rebuff but this is still the situation and it's very sad."