Former Israeli Consul General to the US Yoram Ettinger revealed at the Jerusalem Conference Wednesday that Israel prevented a move that would have relocated the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

“The US Senate was ready to do away with the waiver that allows the president to defer the moving of the embassy to Jerusalem,” Ettinger said during a round-table discussion at the Jerusalem Conference. “There were over 80 senators – enough to override any [presidential] veto.”

It was the Israeli government, Ettinger said, who intervened on behalf of leaving the Embassy in Tel Aviv. “The problem is that both houses of congress have been firmer on Jerusalem than any Israeli government since 1993.”

Ettinger did not elaborate which Israeli government it was that told Congress to stand down.

History of the Act and Waiver
US Congress overwhelmingly approved the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act in 1995, mandating that the Embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by May 1999 and that the US recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Currently, all the nations with which Israel has diplomatic relations refuse to recognize Israel’s Basic Law designating Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State.

Former US President Bill Clinton, who promised in both of his presidential campaigns to move the embassy, signed successive six-month security waivers, thus passing on the "hot potato" to his successor.

During the 2000 election campaign, US President George W. Bush pledged that if he was elected, he would "begin the process" of moving the embassy to Jerusalem on his "first day in office." He has not done so, however - invoking the waver for the 13th time on December 12, 2007.

After the failed Camp David talks in July 2000, Clinton suggested in an interview with Israeli television that he was considering moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem. "I have always wanted to do it. I've always thought it was the right thing to do. But I didn't want to do anything to undermine the peace process ... But it's something that I have taken under review now because of the recent events," Clinton told the Israeli public. In reaction, Hizbullah terror chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah threatened the US that he would "turn your embassy into rubble and return your diplomats in coffins."

Ettinger: Defiance Sometimes Needed in US-Israel Relations
“[Israel’s first prime minister, David] Ben Gurion defied the UN, the US and Europe by building on the Green Line in Jerusalem,” Ettinger said. “[His successor] Levi Eshkol decided to build satellite neighborhoods, knowing full well that they included Arab neighborhoods within the future municipal boundaries.

The true demographic threat in Jerusalem is the freezing of Jewish building and the limitations placed on the natural growth of the capital by diplomatic initiatives, Ettinger explained. “[Eshkol] realized that unless you expand the border of Jerusalem, including Arab neighborhoods – you wont have the area required to allow Jerusalem to expand. Without building to the east, it is impossible to reverse the trend of Jewish emigration from the capital.”

For the second day, the Jerusalem Conference held a discussion on Jerusalem’s future. Wednesday’s discussion dealt with demographics and the Temple Mount.

“Jerusalem should not be up for negotiation,” Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar declared, joining a similar statement a day earlier made by his Ashkenazi counterpart Rabbi Yonah Metzger. “The Temple Mount is the heart and soul of the Land of Israel and there is no Jewish unity without the unity of the Land of Israel.”

Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar
(Photo: Ezra HaLevi)

Haaretz Journalist: Jerusalem Suburbs to Become Sderots
Nadav Shragai, who covers the Land of Israel beat for Haaretz, spoke about the practical ramifications of the planned division of Jerusalem currently being negotiated.

Haaretz journalist Nadav Shragai
(Photo: Ezra HaLevi)

“The neighborhoods surrounding this hotel [the Regency, between the Jewish French Hill and Arab Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods in Jerusalem –ed.] are but a few of those that are to be relinquished in an agreement reached by this government,” Shragai said. “The routes leading to Mt. Scopus and neighborhoods like Pisgat Ze’ev, Neve Ya’akov and Har Homa are being negotiated – whether they will have to be accessed via tunnels or covered roads.”

The 25-year-veteran journalist stressed that Jerusalem’s Jewish neighborhoods are but a few hundred meters from the Arab ones that would become part of a sovereign Arab state. “The proximity of all these [Jewish] neighborhoods to the newly Palestinian ones leave them vulnerable to attack, even by light weaponry - which is possessed by every Palestinian faction.”

Session Chairman Yechiel Leiter pointed out that the distance from the rocket-launching pads of the northern Gaza region to the western Negev is greater than the distance between most Arab and Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

Shragai, whose newspaper has been the strongest backer of the Oslo Accords and subsequent initiative, estimated that “It is reasonable to assume that attacks will continue even after a final agreement. The Palestinians will not give up on the "Right to Return" – including in Jerusalem. They have documented all the pre-’48 properties and plan on standing by these demands.”

The Demographic Paper Tiger
“Everybody talks about demographics as a reason to relinquish Arab neighborhoods,” Shragai said. “The real issue is not the Arab residents, but Jewish emigration from the city. Will making the hundred thousands of Jews living in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods into border towns like Sderot solve anything? It will make the situation much worse.”

Shragai, who has refrained in the past from voicing political pronouncements, had harsh words for his colleagues. “The press – of which I am a part – is neglecting to ask the tough questions about the division of Jerusalem,” he concluded.

Demographer Yoram Ettinger went even further than Shragai. Presenting his findings that the birth rate of Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem has in fact already reached parity – with an upward trend for Jews and downward for Arabs.

“Anyone who believes that relinquishing the Arab neighborhoods will have any demographic benefit is detached from reality,” he said.

Yoram Ettinger
(Photo: Ezra HaLevi)

Jerusalem’s Handling by Government Unethical to the Core
“The way Jerusalem is being negotiated personifies the unethical nature of this government,” said Danny Dayan, the new head of the Yesha Council of Judea and Samaria communities (formerly Gaza as well). “Even before Annapolis, the Olmert government obviously put Jerusalem on the table, conceding at least the Clinton parameters to the PA [which entail Israel relinquishing many of Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods –ed.].”

Dayan said the fact that the Olmert government is completely willing to lie to the faces of the populace – knowing that the citizenry knows full well they are being lied to – personifies the unethical nature of the current government. But he pointed the finger at the populace for failing to topple the government. “Everyone knows what is going on and everyone is hiding their heads in the sand,” Dayan said. “The press is being complicit and allowing it,” he added, echoing Shragai.

Jerusalem Without the Holy Temple is Not Jerusalem
Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the founder of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem spoke about his experience being part of Motta Gur’s Paratrooper unit that liberated the Temple Mount. “Once we liberated the area, I saw the Prime Minister, the president and all sorts of dignitaries entering the Temple Mount. But where did they head? To the Kotel [the Western Wall of the Temple Mount –ed.]. We arrive at the Temple Mount after 2,000 years – and where did we go? And the Torah world was fully complicit in this – it was not just Moshe Dayan and the government. Humiliation. Complete humiliation.

Temple Institute founder Rabbi Yisrael Ariel
(Photo: Ezra HaLevi)

“There is no Jerusalem without the Holy Temple,” he proclaimed. “I have been sitting here for two hours and heave heard about housing and demographics and even the Jewish Quarter – but nothing about the Holy Temple, which is inextricably the whole essence of Jerusalem. It is impossible to speak about Jerusalem without mentioning even once the Holy Temple.

“Every generation at least implemented to the best of their ability what they prayed for. Our generation simply runs away from it. We talk about the Temple Mount, but not building the Holy Temple.”

The Palestinian Authority is not going to issue a unilateral declaration of independence, despite the recommendation of a senior PA negotiator.

PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas ruled out the idea, suggested Wednesday morning by Yasser Abed Rabbo, a co-founder of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Rabbo, who was expressing his frustration that "negotiations with Israel are not going anywhere," said the PA would consider declaring independence if Israel does not take steps to move the negotiations along faster.

"Kosovo is not better than us," Rabbo told Reuters, referring to the former Serbian province that declared its independence earlier this week.

Fellow PA negotiator Saeb Erekat disagreed with his colleague, saying the PA needs "real independence" and not just a declaration. "We are not Kosovo," he said. "We are under Israeli occupation and for independence we need to acquire independence."

Kosovo's declaration of itself as "a sovereign and democratic state" Sunday afternoon was denounced by Russia but was recognized by the United States and the European Union. Israel adopted a wait-and-see attitude, with the Foreign Ministry issuing a statement saying the Jewish State "is following the developments and will formulate its position later on."

Abbas also stood firm on the issue of continuing negotiations with Israel regardless of how slow the progress might seem to others.

"We will pursue negotiations in order to reach a peace agreement during 2008 that includes the settlement of all final status issues, including Jerusalem," said Abbas in a statement.

If the talks reach a deadlock, he added, "we will go back to our Arab nation [sic] to take the necessary decision at the highest level."

Abbas did not indicate what possible alternatives might be.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, hinted that Arab countries might take back their peace offers to Israel if the Jewish State does not respond to them.

Al-Faisal was quoted as saying: "We hope that Israel responds positively to the strenuous efforts we are making, so that we do not despair and think about taking back our offer."

“Mahmoud Abbas is a fraud and not interested in peace,” said Morton Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), in an interview with Arutz Sheva at the fifth annual Jerusalem Conference. “He is just trying to get as much as he can through negotiations that he could not get through any sort of war.”

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Klein explained that Abbas is not a moderate, as much of the Israeli and Western world believes, and his actions even in the past few weeks are evidence of this. When George Habash, a notorious terrorist, was killed, Abbas called for three days of mourning and to fly all the flags at half-mast. Also, he recently approved the new official “Fatah” poster, which shows all of Israel as “Palestine” and includes a rifle and an oversized picture of Yasser Arafat. Abbas is also a “career Holocaust denier,” Klein notes, who has wrote his PhD thesis and an entire book on the topic. He also glorifies suicide bombers and until recently, praised Hamas.

“It is astonishing to me that the Israeli media, the American media, George W. Bush, Ehud Olmert - all ignore all this … believing that if you give him a state, maybe things will be okay, maybe he’ll revert to being totally decent.” Klein believes that President Bush is actually appeasing Abbas and is trying to send a message to the Arab world that he is not against Muslim culture. The Israeli government tries the peaceful route mostly because of pressure from Europe and America, but fails to appreciate that Congress would support them if they refused to negotiate with the Palestinians.

In a recent press conference with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Sayam Fayad, Klein asked him how he could claim to be moderate when his actions suggest otherwise. Fayad could only say that his government sometimes did things that are not consistent with their goals. “In other words,” said Klein, “he had no answer.”

Klein, who has a personal relationship with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has asked him these questions. But he says Olmert supports the establishment of a Palestinian state, and is willing “to expel seventy thousand Jews.” Klein objects, saying that “statehood and sovereignty does not resolve the problem,” citing Iran and North Korea as examples. “A Palestinian state will make things worse, not better, and too few people understand that reality.”

Israelis and Americans are being mislead by their governments and are not being educated about the true nature of Abbas and his “moderate” government. Mr. Klein, who visits (mostly Conservative and Reform) synagogues across America, says that once he explains the facts, these American Jews realized the negotiations process makes no sense. “I have tremendous confidence in American Jews,” said Klein, citing a recent poll which found that 81% of American Jews do not believe that the goal of the PA is to have a state.

Kleins explains that “if the Palestinians wanted peace, the incitement in the textbooks, in the newspapers and TV that promote hatred and murder against Jews and Israelis would have ended.” They would not be calling for the release of terrorists from prison. “Their goal is Israel’s destruction and that is why nothing has worked and nothing will work…until they transform this society.”

ZOA Opening Headquarters in Jerusalem
The ZOA will be opening a new office in Israel next week. The new Jerusalem office will open February 24 at 9 AM with a news conference at the Begin Center.

Jeff Daube will be Director of the new Israel office. The aims of the ZOA in Israel are to educate MKs and Cabinet members, promote legislation to strengthen Zionist and Jewish identity, host and address Birthright groups, meet visiting US officials and students, monitor anti-Jewish bias on Israeli campuses and track the activities of radical groups such as the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

Iran's fundamentalist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unleashed a fresh round of threats Wednesday against Israel, calling the only Jewish country in the world a "filthy microbe" and a "savage animal."

Speaking to an Islamist rally in the southern city of Bandar Abbas that was broadcast on national television, Ahmadinejad told supporters "World powers have created a black and dirty microbe named the Zionist regime and have unleashed it like a savage animal on the nations of the region."

The attack was the latest in a recent flurry of Iranian threats against Israel. In recent weeks two leading Iranian generals have encouraged Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah to continue the organization's ongoing fight with Israel and urged the complete destruction of the "Zionist regime."  Earlier this week, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, predicted that the day was rapidly approaching that Hizbullah would achieve its goal of destroying Israel.

The United Nations Security Council is not expected to issue any condemnation of Iran's latest assault on Israel, despite a letter from Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman describing Iran's statements as "anti-Israel rhetoric and racism of the worst kind" and  a "blatant violation" of the United Nations Charter. But Gillerman's letter stopped short of asking the Council to condemn the rhetoric because he wasn't sure if Israel could muster the 15 votes needed to vote in favor of condemnation.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Gillerman in a meeting between the two that was requested by the Israeli ambassador that Ahmadinejad's statements were "unbearable" and promised he would respond "decisively" to the Iranian president's talk.

The two men also discussed the abducted Israeli soldiers, the increasing strength of the Hizbullah terrorist organization and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

In order to put an end to Iran's nuclear program, "we have to close the door to investment in the Iran oil sector, loans to the government from the World Bank and from corporations around the world," Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) said Wednesday.

Only then, he explained, will we be able to negotiate with strength and say: "You want electricity – fine. You want to do business with the world – fine. But you want nuclear weapons – no way."

Speaking at the Jerusalem Conference, Sherman said: "There is a rumor that the United States is already doing all it can [on Iran]… nothing could be farther from the truth." He accused the United States of not doing placing sufficient economic pressure on Iran. "The Iraq war seems to paint the current administration as if, by G-d, they want to do everything. But, in the economic area they have been very unwilling to take the steps that we need to take," he said.

Despite the recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that Iran has suspended its weaponization program, Sherman said he believes Iran is still collecting the physical material needed for nuclear weapons.

"The suspension of the weaponization program is of virtually no consequence," and, "Iran is on target to having nuclear weapons by the middle of the next decade," he added.

Congressman Sherman claimed that Iran using the development of civilian energy infrastructure to assist its nuclear program. He explained that Iran's oil wells also produce natural gas which the Iranians do not have a way to market. Instead, Iran "flares" the gas, burning it away, although it would be more effective to put the gas in a conventional natural gas electric generation facility.

"Iran could produce, safely, electricity for two to three cents a kilowatt – far less than what they are spending on what they say is a civilian nuclear generation program," he told the audience. "It makes absolutely no sense for a country that is flaring natural gas to develop electricity through nuclear power," he added.

As part of his service in the House Foreign Affairs committee, Congressman Sherman has spent the last 12 years focusing on the threat that Iran poses to the United States and Israel. He currently sits as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade.

Major General (ret.) Harley C. Davis – former CO of the US Special Forces Command – addressed the Jerusalem Conference Tuesday and spoke of the current fighting in the Middle East. "What makes this warfare so vastly different," he said, "is the focus on the population itself."

"It's on the people," he said, "it's not about a piece of terrain or an area. It requires a totally different mindset and different capabilities than the warfare that focuses on defeating the large, standing military formations and seizing and holding a piece of terrain."

"The enemy that we are facing will normally take one or more courses of action – such as insurgency, such as terrorism and disinformation," Davis explained. "Their aim is to gain the people's support."

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Youths who say they were victimized by police during the forcible evacuation of the Shvut Ami outpost will be able to testify without fear of being indicted - thanks to a decision by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz.

Shvut Ami is one of five tiny satellite communities "founded" in Yesha (Judea and Samaria) this past October by the grassroots Land of Israel Loyalists organization. Most of the five did not last for more than a day, as IDF forces and Border Guard policemen evicted the "residents" by the next morning.  But Shvut Ami, near Kedumim in central Samaria, lasted for several days before many activists, including minors, were violently evacuated, and ten were arrested.  At least two of the latter, boys aged 14 and 15, said they were brutally beaten at the police station by Policeman Abu Salman Aslah. 

The two, however, as well as others who were hurt in police violence there, were afraid to come forward to complain - for fear that they would be arrested merely for having been at Shvut Ami.  This, in keeping with a recent and unusually harsh directive by Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordering indictments to be handed down against citizens simply for being present at the site of an unauthorized outpost.

Mazuz Says Yes to Yesha
The Yesha Civil Rights Organization, headed by Orit Strook of Hevron, then requested that the Shvut Ami protestors be granted legal protection from the danger of self-incrimination - and this week, Attorney General Mazuz accepted the request.

With Barak's directive thus neutralized, some of the Shvut Ami protestors hurried to nearby police stations to file complaints against policemen who beat them.

Jews Say Yes to Arabs
Barak's order had been issued several weeks earlier, at the behest of the far-left "Yesh Din" organization.  Members of this Jewish group have gone so far as to attempt to populate Shvut Ami themselves, in the hope of handing it over to local Arab residents.

The Yesha civil rights group's request to Mazuz was written up by Attorney Chaim Cohen.  Cohen wrote that Barak's directive "could strike a grave blow at the chance of investigating and meting out justice to the policemen who committed grave violations of the law in Shvut Ami... The policemen were guilty of beating handcuffed arrestees, interfering in investigations by confiscating cameras, and even sexual harassment of young female protestors."

This is the third time Mazuz has made a decision of this type.  Immunity was also granted to protestors from Amona two years ago, as well as to those who made their way to the Disengagement-destroyed community of Homesh in the Shomron several months ago.

"When grave crimes by policemen are suspected," Cohen wrote, "such as destroying evidence, severe violence and sexual harassment, compared with relatively light violations by the protestors such as standing in a closed military zone [and the like], it is incumbent upon the law enforcement agencies to give preference to wiping out any vestige of law-breaking by those who represent the law... Therefore, in extreme cases such as this one, in our humble opinion, the witnesses and complainants must be granted immunity, in order that the truth be revealed."

In accepting the request, Mazuz's office made clear that those suspected of crimes other than merely "standing in a closed military zone" will not be granted the requested immunity.

Two U.S. senators, Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn) and James Inhofe (R-OK), reaffirmed the continued partnership between the United States and Israel in their speeches before the Jerusalem Conference Wednesday.

"This struggle against forces of radical Islam is the central challenge of our time," Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) told the audience at the Jerusalem Hyatt Regency hotel.
 
Americans, Israelis Must be 'Absolutely United'
"It is a fight that is truly global in its scale and in its scope. A fight that demands Americans and Israelis stand absolutely united against this evil that threatens us all."

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn)

While Senator Lieberman said that the war on terrorism is a global one, he insisted that "the fight revolves in so many ways around the Middle East, around Israel and around Jerusalem." Speaking on the issue of dividing Jerusalem, Senator Lieberman claimed it is vital to keep the city as the united capital.

"I know that just about every member of the United States congress, of both political parties, shares that view and accepts the responsibility that comes with that belief," The veteran Jewish senator and former vice-presidential candidate said. The deliberations at this year's Jerusalem Conference will play a valuable role in the "pursuit of our freedom and security," he added.

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Just Like Fascists and Communists
Senator Lieberman said that today's terrorists are "every bit as fanatical and murderous as the fascists and the communists that we faced and defeated in the last century."

In his speech he claimed that "terrorism is [the Islamists'] preferred weapon but it is not their ultimate aim." That aim, he said, is "a conquest in which the entire Middle East and much more falls under their repressive and primitive rule."

Senator Lieberman did say, however, that on the other side of the struggle are millions of people "who want the same basic things as the rest of us." This "silenced majority," he added, would pick "freedom over fear, hope over hatred, justice over tyranny," if it had the opportunity.

"The great dividing line in our time is really between the people whose desire is a better life for themselves and their children and the extremist suicide bombers whose only desire is death and conquest," he said.  

Inhofe: 10,000 JDAMs, 1,000 Hellfires
"It is important to understand on both sides, the Israeli side and the United States' side, that we do need each other," Senator Inhofe said. He stressed that Israel has been the only consistent friend to the United States in the Middle East and said he hopes to maintain that relationship.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)

"As the second ranking member of the Senate Arms Services Committee, let me assure you that we are going to continue with our strong support," he told an applauding audience. The senator stated that Israel will be receiving $2.34 billion in military aid.

Inhofe said that Israel "should anticipate" acquiring 10,000 Joint Attack Missiles (J-DAMs), 2,000 Precision Penetrating bombs and 1,000 Hellfire missiles. He said these are the weapons necessary for Israel to do "the things that you need to do for our mutual protection in the Middle East."

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The Israel Museum opened two new exhibitions of Holocaust-era art Monday, giving light to nearly 100 paintings and Jewish ceremonial artifacts stolen by Nazi looters during the Second World War.

Torah Crown from Alsace, France
Photos courtesy of the Israel Museum 

Hundreds of Jerusalemites braved a blustery, cold night and a weather forecast of snow to attend the gala opening of "Looking for Owners: Custody, Research and Restitution of Art Stolen in France during World War II." The exhibit includes 58 paintings by some of the biggest names in European art, representing hundreds of years and a wide variety of painting styles and topics. Paintings include non-Jewish works by artists such as Paul Cézanne and Édouard Manet, as well as Jewish painters such as Marc Chagall, Max Liebermann and others.

Marc Chagall, The Rabbi
Réunion des Musé

Israel Museum officials stress that while most of the art was stolen from Jewish collectors and private homes, some of the works were taken from French non-Jews and culture institutions. Many were sold in "legitimate" commercial transactions for prices far below market value or in forced sales. Following the war, many pieces were returned to France, but restoring the material to the rightful owners proved impossible because many or most of the original owners were killed, both in concentration camps
and as a direct result of the war.

Superior Aryan Culture
In a gallery featuring many priceless masterpieces, one of the most sobering features of the exhibition is a series of eight photographs documenting the theft of French art. There are images of hundreds of classic paintings, boxed up and awaiting shipment to Germany, one shows the walls of the Paris Central Train Station laden with fine art, and another shows a similar view of the private homes of some Nazi higher-ups. And of course, no exhibition on Holocaust-era theft would be complete without images of stolen Torah scrolls and other Judaica.

Chanukah Lamp from Frankfurt, Germany
The Israel Museum

As with many things Nazi-related, the numbers are astounding. From April 1941 to July 1944, 138 railcars were packed with 4,174 cases of stolen artwork and shipped to Germany – an average of more than three per month. In all, more than 22,000 objects were taken during this period, some of the nearly 60,000 pieces of art looted during the war. 

Edouard Manet, Portait of Antonin Proust
Réunion des Musé

Museum officials consider the "second" exhibition, entitled "Orphaned Art: Looted Art from the Holocuast," to be secondary in importance to the French exhibit, but in many ways it is more descriptive of every day Jewish life in prewar Europe than the primary exhibition. With more than 50 Jewish ceremonial objects, paintings, books and prints, all stolen from Jewish families throughout the Third Reich, the artifacts are stunning in their simplicity. Museum Director James Snyder said many of the objects, particularly the Judaica, would not be considered "valuable" in the international art marketplace, but nonetheless they are an important record of the history of European Jewry.

Decade-long Effort
In addition to providing a non-traditional history of the Holocaust period in France, the exhibit highlights one of the most painful subjects for survivors of the tragedy: restitution and poverty. Museum sources say efforts to bring the exhibit to Jerusalem have been under way for more than a decade, but have hit stumbling blocks along the way from French authorities and culture institutions such as the Musées Nationaux Récupération (MNR), the current custodian of many of the French works, who were concerned about possible restitution claims by Holocaust survivors in Israel.

Moritz Oppenheim, Portrait of Ludwig Borne
The Israel Museum

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Marriage Portrait of Charlotte von Rothschild
The Israel Museum

The concern was not unfounded: In the mid-1990s a legal battle surrounding a loan by Austria's Leopold Foundation to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art caused  Attorney General Robert Morgenthau to prevent the return of several paintings by early 20th century artist Egon Schiele to Austria because of claims by two families that exhibits in the show belonged to their relatives murdered during by the Nazis. The New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest legal authority, eventually decided against the plaintiffs, but the case set a precedent for future claims.

In order to host the exhibition, the Israel Museum pushed the Knesset to the Immunity from Seizure Law preventing survivors or heirs from claiming ownership of the property. The controversial bill became law in 2007, and museum officials say that many of the law's detractors eventually came to support the law, for a variety of reasons.

Edgar Degas, Portrait of the Engraver Mansi
Réunion des Musé

"The law is important because there was no way France was going to agree to let us host this exhibition here," said Dena Scher, the Israel Museum Foreign Press Officer. "People began to realize that if we don't pass the law we are never going to see these paintings."

Furthermore, Scher said the law is a positive one that moves not only to protect the rights of Holocaust survivors, but also provides a mechanism to facilitate potential claims.

"The law only says that survivors can't lay claim to the art HERE in Israel. But it also stipulates that the lending country, in this case France, must have a functioning body to adjudicate survivor claims. France does – there is a tribunal that meets once or twice a year to listen to claims.

"In addition, we had to publish the works at least one month before the exhibition, to allow the public to survey the works and file claims if they had any. All the works in this show were put on the Justice Ministry website on December 28 and stayed there for a month. No claims were made, and the material was prepared for shipment at the end of last month," she said.

The joint exhibition is set to run through June 3. A follow-up show is scheduled at the Musee d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaisme over the summer.