There are only several dozen Jews left in Egypt. The population peaked at around 80,000 in the 1940s but was driven down by mob violence and persecution tied to the Israeli-Arab conflict. But Egypt will maintain the nation´s historic synagogues.
Egypt culture minister Farouk Hosny said his government considers historic Jewish sites as much of a part of Egypt´s culture as its mosques for Muslims and its churches for Coptic Christians, saying the country would not ask for foreign funding.
Hosny hasn´t been on great terms with the world´s Jews. In September 2009, when he lost out on becoming the U.N.´s head of culture and education, he blamed a conspiracy "cooked up in New York" by Jews. And he once threatened to burn Jewish books.
