March 26 marks the 40th anniversary of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. No special celebrations are expected in Cairo or Jerusalem, but a celebration is planned in the United States. Congress will posthumously grant the highest presidential honor — a congressional gold medal — to former President Anwar Sadat, the first Egyptian leader to recognize Israel and who signed a peace treaty with Prime Minister Menachem Begin on the White House lawn.

A delegation of Israeli and American businessmen and activists visited Egypt Feb. 19 and met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in order to invite him to the gold medal ceremony, which will likely happen this September. In the course of the meeting, the Egyptian president said that should there be a resurgence of the Jewish community in Egypt, his government would be prepared to build synagogues and other community institutions. He also mentioned his plans to restore the Jewish cemeteries in the country, which have suffered ongoing neglect.

“The president was very friendly and showed exceptional openness to the delegation,” Ezra Friedlander, head of the delegation, told Al-Monitor. Friedlander, head of the Friedlander consulting group, is an Orthodox Jew who has worked over the past three years to advance the bill in Congress to grant the congressional gold medal to Sadat. “During the meeting, we raised the topic of the ancient cemetery in the Bassatine quarter [in Cairo], which has been very neglected, and we offered to fund its restoration. But Sisi immediately silenced us and said, ‘It’s our responsibility. We’ll do it.’”

The largest Jewish cemetery in Egypt dates all the way back to the ninth century. During many years of neglect, robbers uprooted the marble tombstones and sold them. The Jewish community in Egypt was surprised to see that a day after Sisi’s declaration in the meeting with the delegation, bulldozers appeared at the site and started cleaning it. The tiny Jewish community in the country published an enthusiastic announcement: “Today, the Egyptian government started to clean and remove the slums in the east part of Bassatine cemetery. Egypt is defending its Jewish heritage. Thousands of souls will sleep in peace tonight. Thanks to all those who contributed to this achievement.”