by Ariel Kahana
Talks are deadlocked due to France's demand that Israel recognize its sovereignty at the site and forego any future claim.
The Tombs of the Kings site in east Jerusalem
Photo: Amit Ararat
Israel and France
are holding secret talks aimed at opening the ancient compound known as
the Tombs of the Kings near the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel Hayom has
learned.
The catacomb has been under the
administration of the French Consulate in the east Jerusalem
neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah for the past 150 years owing to
international agreements dating back to the Ottoman period.
Scholars believe the tombs date back to the
Second Temple Period. Queen Helena of Adiabene, a convert to Judaism,
was believed to have been buried in a special sarcophagus that was found
at the site, which was subsequently put on display at Paris' Louvre
museum along with other sarcophagi revealed by excavations there.
The French Jewish community along with
religious figures in Israel have long asked to obtain access to the
site, where according to Jewish tradition Ben Kalba Sabbua - a famous
resident of the city during the Roman period – is believed to have been
buried.
The secret talks have been going on for the
past three years, but the French Consulate has claimed the site cannot
be reopened until its renovations there are completed. That claim has
been met with skepticism by Israeli authorities, who note that the
renovations appear to have been going on for about a decade.
According to sources at the Foreign
Ministry, France wants to secure two Israeli concessions before it
changes its policy. The first, that Israel recognizes French sovereignty
over the site and the second, that Israel commits not to mount a legal
challenge over ownership of the site.
Israel has rejected both demands thus far.
Sources informed Israel Hayom that when
President Reuven Rivlin visited France last month, he was surprised when
his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron presented his country's demands
for the site. Rivlin did not respond because he was not familiar with
the details of the case.
The issue has come up multiple times in conversations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Macron.
Ariel Kahana
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2019/02/03/exclusive-israel-france-in-secret-talks-over-access-to-ancient-tombs/
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