Israeli antiquities remain stranded at Trump’s Florida estate as authorities fail to retrieve
Former President Donald Trump on July 8, 2023. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Antiquities belonging to Israel have been kept for the past several months at former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, and senior Israeli figures have unsuccessfully tried to have them returned to Israel.
Among the antiquities are ancient ceramic candles which are part of Israel’s national treasures collection. They were sent to the U.S. in 2019 with the approval of then-Director of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, Israel Hasson, on the condition that they be returned within weeks, yet almost four years later, they have yet to be returned.
The archeological items were shipped from Israel to the United States for a Hanukkah event attended by Trump, then in office, and major Jewish-American donor to the Antiquities Authority Saul Fox. Over the years, Fox has donated to the establishment of a national center for antique coins, as well as to the creation of an archeological garden at the Knesset.
According to sources in Israel and abroad, Fox was invited in 2019 to a Hanukkah candle-lighting event at the White House. Ancient candles were sent from Israel for the event, intended to be displayed briefly in Washington, and then returned to Israel.
The candles were eventually not displayed in the White House, due to a bureaucratic difficulty raised by the Americans. But according to Israeli sources who dealt with the matter, instead of being returned to Israel, they got “stuck” in the United States.
Hasson, then-Director of the Antiquities Authority, told Haaretz that the Authority did not wish to send the items back by regular flight or shipping company, for fear of damage. Instead, he explained, “We wanted our man to go and bring it back, but then COVID broke out, and everything got stuck.” The Antiquities Authority, Hasson added, asked Fox to keep the items in his possession for a limited time, until they could be returned to Israel safely.
Several months ago, Israeli authorities learned that the antiquities eventually ended up at former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where they still remain.
Current Director of the Antiquities Authority Eli Eskozido has contacted the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, asking them to aid in returning the items, thus far without success. It is unclear whether Trump himself is aware that the items are on the premises of his estate.
Mar-a-Lago was previously in the news this year following an FBI raid of its premises, which yielded multiple boxes of classified documents taken from the White House. Photographs from the raid disseminated in American media show crates full of documents stored in a bathroom and in a storage space in the estate. A source updated on the affair told Haaretz that he wouldn’t be surprised if “the items Israel seeks are also eventually found in some bathroom there.”
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