Ancient Israeli Artifacts Lent To White House Four Years Ago Found At Mar-a-Lago, Owners Can’t Get Them Back

Ancient artifacts that Israel lent to the White House four years ago were found in Donald Trump’s property Mar-a-Lago. 

The relics were meant to be in the U.S. on a short-term basis, about a few weeks, and were sent to be placed on display at an event at the White House. 

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that multiple artifacts, including ceramic oil lamps, that are a part of their national collection of treasures were shipped to D.C. through the approval of Israel Hasson, the director of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The event at the White House was to celebrate Hanukkah in a candle-lighting ceremony and took place while Trump was president in December 2019. 

Ultimately, it was decided not to display the lamps due to concerns that the candles may have been taken from the West Bank, which is occupied by Israel. Plans were set to return the artifact through a special courier, but international travel was halted by the Covid pandemic. The only option left was to ship them back, but the U.S. and Israel were concerned about damaging the objects if they were to send them through regular shipping channels. 

Saul Fox, who attended the event and is a Jewish American donor to the IAA, was asked by authorities to keep a hold of the items until they could be properly returned. 

Officials in Israel have discovered that the antiques were, in fact, not being held by Fox, but were at Trump’s property in Florida, in addition to the classified documents he had stashed in his bathrooms. 

It is unknown whether Trump is aware that he has these lamps or how they ended up at the estate in the first place. Some say that it would not be surprising if they were found in the bathrooms along with the other documents. 

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Reportedly, senior Israeli officials have been attempting to retrieve the candles for the past three years, but have been unsuccessful so far. 

Eli Eskozido, who is the director of IAA, claims he has reached out to the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, the Former United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and the Israeli foreign affairs ministry to ask for their help, but has had no luck.