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ISRAEL IS set to claim up to $250 billion (£195 billion) in compensation from Muslim countries for Jewish property confiscated during the 20th Century following a two-year government study.
Ten countries are reportedly covered by the Ministry of Social Equality’s assessment, covering around 850,000 Jews whose families lived in countries across the Middle East for centuries before being coerced into emigrating between the 1930s and 1960s.
Many of them were forced to leave behind private property, which was confiscated by the authorities, along with Jewish communal property including thousands of synagogues and other real estate.
The assessment for Libya and Tunisia together amounts to a claim for $50 billion (£39.2 billion), Israel’s Channel Two news reported. Other countries included in the assessment are Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Syria, Yemen and Egypt.
In 2010, the Knesset passed a law mandating that in future peace negotiations with Middle Eastern countries, claims would be made for the property lost by Jews who lived in its territory.
Government sources say the assessments are being prepared for possible negotiations under Donald Trump’s anticipated peace plan, which is expected to include not only the Palestinians but also some Arab countries Israel’s Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel, who is leading the study
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that do not yet have official relations with Israel.
A claim for compensation for lost Jewish property would also be a negotiating tactic to counter claims for property lost after 700,000 Palestinians who were displaced during the 1948 War of Independence.
It is unclear yet how the Israeli government intends to pursue the claims and in what legal forum. Israel has diplomatic ties with only one of the ten countries — Egypt — and all
strenuously deny that their Jewish citizens were forced to leave.
But some have speculated that there is a more immediate reason why details of the study have been made public this week.
Sources close to Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel said the details of the plan were likely leaked to the Israeli media this week to help bolster her as she seeks a prominent spot in Likud’s list of Knesset candidates ahead of the April 9 election.