Donald Trump Agreed to Return Israeli Antiquities He Had at Mar-a-Lago
Update, 7/21/23: Former president Donald Trump agreed to return Israeli antiquities following news reports that they were at Mar-a-Lago. "These historic items were presented by a representative of the Israeli antiquities authority with the full support of the organization," a Trump spokesman said, per the Wall Street Journal. "As the items were displayed as originally intended, the office will be expediting their return to the organization’s representative."
Original, 7/19/23: Antiquities that Israel loaned to the United States in 2019 are at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's Palm Beach residence, Israeli paper Haaretz reported yesterday.
In 2019, the Israel Antiquities Authority sent antiquities, including ancient ceramic oil lamps, to the White House on the condition they be returned within weeks. They were sent for use in a Hanukkah candle lighting event held by the Trump administration in December 2019, but they ended up not being displayed, in what Haaretz described as a "bureaucratic difficulty raised by the Americans."
After, Israel intended to send a representative to bring back the items in person, but the COVID-19 pandemic waylaid their plans. "We wanted our man to go and bring it back, but then Covid broke out, and everything got stuck," then-Israeli Antiquities Authority director Israel Hasson explained to Haaretz. So, the department asked Israeli-American donor Saul Fox to hold onto them for a limited time—yet they have somehow ended up at Mar-a-Lago. It's unclear how, and whether or not Trump knows the lamps are there.
Eli Eskozido, who took over the director role from Hasson, has been trying to get the antiquities back, to no success. The Antiquities Authority has sought the help of Israeli and American officials in getting the items back, but has so far been unsuccessful. An anonymous source told the Israeli paper they would not be surprised if "the items Israel seeks are also eventually found in some bathroom," referencing how the FBI found government documents stored in the bathroom of Trump's Florida home when they executed a search warrant last summer.
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