Egypt pulls funding for dwindling Jewish community

An official in Egypt's Ministry of Social Affairs has stated that the small annual stipend that Egypt had been spending on the tiny Jewish community has been eliminated in the newest budget.

Suad Makki, head of the Central Department for Financial and Administrative Affairs, told a meeting of the Commission on Human Rights of the Shura Council that the Egyptian government had been paying some $14,000 to the Jewish community almost every year since 1988. After the death earlier this year of Carmen Weinstein, the head of the community, Makki says that there is no longer a liaison.

Egypt has an estimated 20 remaining Jews, all elderly women, according to the report.

Weinstein was officially succeeded by Magda Haroun, and it is unclear why she is not continuing Weinstein's role, or if the cash-strapped Egyptian government is using Weinstein's death as an excuse.