Please can we get our antiquities back?
Wanted: Ancient ceramic oil lamps from Israel. Last seen on loan to the White House and suspected to be at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.
On the eve of Hanukkah, 2017, the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed the discovery of the pictured clay lamp that dates back 2,200 years, to the time when Judah Maccabee fought the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes. Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Documents, including classified ones at Mar-a-Lago, have been the subject of ongoing investigations and made front-page news. But another sort of object on the premises is not supposed to be there, according to reports.
The Israel Antiquities Authority loaned ancient artifacts to the White House during the Trump administration for use in a Chanukah ceremony. The candelabra/oil lamps were not used, and international COVID travel restrictions in 2020 disrupted their return.
The antiques are reportedly at Mar-a-Lago, with Israeli officials having difficulty securing their return.
It remains unclear whether Trump, currently the leading Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential race, knows that the Israeli cultural objects are at his resort.
TPS
Rule No 1 – Never loan anything to anyone unless it is a recognised organisation like a museum.