May 13, 2026 One of two looted Israeli coins returned by US authorities. (Eitan Klein, Israel Antiquities Authority) The coins, one of which was minted by the Maccabees and bears the image of a menorah, were looted by antiquities thieves and smuggled to American auction houses. By World Israel News Staff Two rare ancient coins, including one depicting the seven-branched menorah that stood in the Temple in Jerusalem, were returned to Israel this week after an international investigation into antiquities smuggling. The coins were handed over Monday at an official ceremony at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York. The operation was carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Theft Prevention Unit, the Manhattan district attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit and US Homeland Security officials. The coins were minted in Hasmonean-era Jerusalem and in the ancient Mediterranean port city of Ascalon, modern-day Ashkelon. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the coins were illegally taken from the ground by antiquities looters, smuggled out of Israel and later offered for sale through US auction houses. Israeli inspectors passed intelligence to American authorities, leading to an investigation into the auction houses and sellers. The joint probe produced evidence that allowed officials to confiscate the coins and return them to Israel. One of the coins is a small bronze prutah minted during the reign of Mattathias Antigonus, the last Hasmonean king, who ruled in Jerusalem from 40 to 37 BCE. One side shows a seven-branched menorah, among the earliest known artistic depictions of the Temple menorah. The other side shows the showbread table, another sacred object used in the Temple. The Israel Antiquities Authority said the coin is the only Jewish coin known to depict the seven-branched candelabrum from the Temple. Because of its rarity and its status as the last coin type of Hasmonean independence, it is defined as an item of national importance and may not be exported from Israel.

If the regime knew that there was no way out and that they were hours away from being completely destroyed, would they bomb their own nuclear plant? Isn't that what they want? That would do the trick. Do they care if they kill 20 million people to stay in power a little longer, for Allah?

Last week the IDF eliminated Hamza Sharabasi, a commander in Hamas’ Shejaiya Battalion in northern Gaza who took part in a raid on the Nahal Oz Outpost on Oct. 7. The IDF also killed Azzam al-Hayya, a Hamas Nukhba terrorist, in the same strike. The photo shows Sharabasi in a protected shelter at Nahal Oz on Oct. 7.