According to a recent report, former President Donald Trump is allegedly storing ancient Israel artifacts at Mar-a-Lago that were lent to the White House for display four years ago.
The report comes from the Israeli daily Haaretz, which reported on Tuesday that among the antiques believed to be at Trump’s Florida estate include ancient ceramic oil lamps, which are part of the country’s national treasures collection.
The items were first shipped to the White House with the approval of the then-director of Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel Hasson, Haaretz reported. The lamps were meant to be used during a Hanukkah candle-lighting event at the president’s house in 2019.
However, the lamps were never displayed at the White House after concerns about them being taken from the Israeli-occupied West Bank arose, Haaretz reported at the time.
The lamps were then scheduled to return to Israel via a special courier, but the plan was disrupted after the emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020. With officials in both countries not wanting to return the artifacts through regular shipping methods, they became “stuck” in the U.S.
While Haaretz reported that a major American Jewish donor was meant to take care of the items until they were safely returned to Israel, officials were recently made aware that they had ended up at the Mar-a-Lago estate.
It remains unclear how the items ended up at Trump’s Florida home or if he knows they are there. However, Haaretz reported that attempts to retrieve the national treasures by Israeli officials have so far failed.
One source, who is aware of the situation, told the media outlet that he would not be surprised if “ the items Israel seeks are also eventually found in some bathroom there,” alluding to the boxes of classified documents found at the Florida estate earlier this year.
Still, officials are working to retrieve the artifacts. Eli Eskozido, the current director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, told Haaretz he is working with the U.S. to retrieve them from Mar-a-Lago, but is struggling to do so.
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