Muhsin Rabī‘, the head of the Department of Jewish Antiquities, has denied that the halting of reconstruction at the Jewish Synagogue in ‘Abbāsiyyah has anything to do with politics or prejudice.

He says that Jewish synagogues are part of Egypt's history, chalking the work stoppage up to a lack of financial resources.

Rabī‘ also explained that the synagogue was originally shut down because the number of Jews who follow the Karaite sect (to which the synagogue belongs) have decreased in Egypt.