Itamar Levin
Following the establishment of the State of Israel,
hundreds of Jewish owned businesses in Egypt were seized by the
government. But the seizure came to its peak after the Sinai War, when a
property valued today at 3-4 billion dollars was officially frozen and
practically nationalized.
The first step was the freezing of British and French
property in Egypt in November 1956, and the freezing of Jewish property –
regardless of its owner's citizenship – followed suit a few days later.
Far worse, the Jews were ordered to leave Egypt within a few days, and
were only permitted to take with them personal belongings and very small
sums in cash. More than 20,000 of Egypt's 70,000 Jews left their homeland
within 6 months. In 1961 all of the big enterprises in Egypt were
nationalized, and the remaining economic roots of the Jews were destroyed.
The community became smaller and smaller during the
following years, and has only 100 members today. Most of the communal
property is in terrible shape, as the community cannot afford its
restoration. The private property, either sold – under-value – in the
1950s due to the official policy which made wealthy Jews leave Egypt,
frozen after the Sinai War or nationalized in the 1960s, is still owned by
the government or by those who took advantage of the Jewish distress and
bought it at bargain prices.
