It seems that the Palm Beach residence of former President Donald Trump in Florida is not only housing government-owned White House records and highly classified documents.
According to Haaretz, “senior Israeli figures” have been tirelessly working for the past three years to arrange the return of a set of invaluable antiquities that were lent to the White House for a Chanukah party in 2019.
Among the ancient artifacts in question are a collection of ceramic oil lamps, described by Haaretz as part of Israel’s esteemed national treasures. These lamps were sent to the United States in 2019 with the approval of then-director of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, Israel Hasson, who requested their return within a few weeks.
Due to what was cited as a “bureaucratic difficulty,” the lamps were never put on display at the White House and reportedly were never returned to Israel.
Hasson explained to Haaretz that initially, the lamps were not brought back to Israel due to concerns about potential accidental damage during transport. However, their return plans were further disrupted by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to the closure of borders and the suspension of international travel.
“We intended to send our representative to retrieve them, but then Covid emerged, and everything came to a standstill,” he expressed.
Although the Antiquities Authority entrusted a wealthy Israeli-American donor named Saul Fox to safeguard the items, they somehow ended up at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, a 1920s-era mansion turned social club, where he has maintained his primary residence after leaving the White House.
An Israeli official referred to the situation as a “misunderstanding.” Despite efforts by Eli Eskozido, the successor of Hasson, who sought assistance from Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, former Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer, and former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman, all attempts to facilitate the return of the lamps have been unsuccessful.
Haaretz noted that it remains uncertain whether Trump is aware of the presence of the lamps at Mar-a-Lago, a location where he faces accusations of withholding national defense information and failing to return it upon the Department of Justice’s request.
{Matzav.com}
