He leans forward and spreads his arms. "This shows the true gap of the Middle East. We had known Egyptians very well through books, intelligence papers, reports, newspapers. But we never came in touch with Egyptians. And all of a sudden, we see the president of Egypt...stepping in front of us.
"He was very elegantly dressed, smiling," he says. "He didn't show any tension, which is quite amazing."
Ben-Elissar, 65, in his second year as ambassador to the United States, is inevitably, matter-of-factly introduced at public appearances here as Israel's first ambassador to Cairo. He would never have anticipated having that distinction early in his tenure as director-general of the Prime Minister's Office under Menachem Begin. Nor would he have predicted being assigned to arrange Sadat's welcome, or heading the Israeli delegation to Cairo three weeks later.
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