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Priceless works of art and irreplaceable Biblical artifacts in Israel are being taken to safety in anticipation of an Iranian attack.
Tel Aviv Museum of Art has removed paintings by Picasso, Klimt, Rubens, Monet, Chagall, Renoir and dozens of others for fear they would be destroyed in a missile strike.
The museum had previously removed some works following the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion but the April missile barrage from Yemin and Iran forced museum curators across the country to revisit which additional works of art were so priceless, they needed to be taken to bunkers.
The pieces now rest in a secured basement that can withstand a missile attack, including a nuclear strike.
Israel continues to be attacked on six fronts including Hezbollah which has fired more than 7,500 rockets, Hamas which on Tuesday continued to fire missiles from a refugee camp, Yemen, Syria and Iran which says it plans to strike soon.
According to the Times of Israel, the removal of artwork “has left some galleries vacant, with blank walls decorated only with empty hooks and the small, printed descriptions for the artworks that previously hung there.”
“On October 7, we didn’t know what’s going on. We just knew that something horrible was going on throughout the country,” Nathalie Andrijasevic, assistant curator of modern art, told the Times. “Rockets were firing non-stop. And we were just super-scared that rockets will penetrate the ceiling of the galleries and cause damage to our works.”
The Israel Museum in Jerusalem has also removed pieces. Now taken to safety are works by van Gogh, Gauguin, and others.
But it is not just artwork that has been taken to basement vaults. The Dead Sea Scrolls are among priceless cultural and religious artifacts removed from public display and protected from harm. The action, reports the Jerusalem Post, reflects the scrolls’ value to the entire world.
The museum says the Dead Sea Scrolls, in high demand for view by the public and tourists, have been replaced by replicas.
With tensions running high and Israelis being told to stock food and water for 4 to 5 days, the country remains on edge even as citizens publicly display uncommon resiliency and hope.
“Recently, during the past week, we’ve been taking down some more because of the imminent attack that is supposed to happen,’ Andrijasevic said. “Hopefully it will not happen.”
While Iran is expected to use conventional weapons, reports say that it may be close to having a nuclear weapon, if it doesn’t secretly already possess one.
Three independent sources in Iran told the London-based opposition media outlet Iran International reported on Wednesday that Tehran is advancing its secret nuclear program, according to the news outlet JNS.
The report says both Israeli and American officials have detected suspicious activities by Iranian scientists in recent months.
–Dwight Widaman and wire services
