Deputy Premier Yigal Allon asked Attorney General Meir Shamgar today to look into charges that Defense Minister Moshe Dayan illegally exported items from his personal collection of antiquities to the United States for sale to wealthy Jews. Israeli law stipulates that no antiquities may be shipped abroad without the written approval of the government’s Antiquities Department. Allon, who is also Minister of Education and Culture, heads the Antiquities Department.
According to Amnon Dunkner, a spokesman for Allon, the Deputy Premier acted on a complaint by Mordechai Warshavsky, legal advisor to the Tel Aviv Municipality and a member of the Israel-American Cultural Foundation. Dunkner said Allon has asked Shamgar for his legal opinion of Warshavsky’s complaint and has asked that the police be included in the investigation. According to the complaint, Dayan sent ancient artifacts abroad accompanied by his autograph.
The shipments allegedly went through two different channels–unnamed UJA contributors and Maskit, the Israeli arts and crafts firm headed by Ruth Dayan. The antiquities allegedly turned up at the Cultural Foundation’s New York office. It was not clear from Warshavsky’s allegations whether Dayan made money from the sales. Supreme Court Justice Haim Cohen, chairman of the Cultural Foundation, has indicated that from his investigation of Warshavsky’s charges it appeared that the antiquities were sent abroad illegally.
The Bulgarian government has honored a member of the Bulgarian Jewish community, Shaltiel Arouetti, for wartime valor. He has been awarded the “Sept. 9, 1944” medal for his “fight against fascism and for the building of socialism.” Several streets have been named for Bulgarian patriots who are Jews. Sources said the actions were taken to stress that there is no anti-Semitism in Bulgaria.
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