Heritage

Reviving Tel Hai: Yair Belachovsky’s mission to preserve a defining legacy

"Through my activities with Israel Revival, I want to advance the idea that the story of Tel Hai, with its lessons of unity and serving the greater good, becomes the basis for the revival of Israel.”

Yair Belachovsky speaks at a state memorial ceremony for Joseph Trumpeldor and the defenders of Tel Hai in 2025
View of the ancient archeological site of Sebastia, near the West Bank city of Nablus, May 12, 2025.

Gov’t approves 250m. NIS plan to preserve West Bank heritage sites ahead of Six-Day War anniversary

An Israeli flag is raised on the peak of Mount Sartaba in the Jordan Valley, February 23, 2026.

Knesset advances in first reading bill to form Israeli antiquities authority in West Bank

Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

Bank Hapoalim to open 54 Israeli museums, heritage sites with free admission over May weekends


Israel's Heritage Minister: Palestinians destroying archaeological sites like ISIS did in Syria

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu on archaeology, sovereignty, and the battle over history in Judea and Samaria

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu plants a flag at the archaeological site Sartaba in Judea and Samaria.

'Heritage as a weapon': How West Bank digs became a tool of dispossession - opinion

How archaeology in the West Bank has become a battleground over sovereignty, heritage, and international law

A Palestinian archaeologist works on a lead sarcophagus discovered in Gaza City in early 2022. A common Israeli claim is that Palestinians have ‘no interest’ in antiquities.

Israel abandoned its heritage under Oslo - now it's paying the price - opinion

UNESCO battles, abandoned sites, and a renewed national plan force Israel to confront its responsibility to Jewish heritage

Joshua’s Altar on Mount Ebal, situated outside of Israeli territory, is under threat of being erased by new construction plans.

Rare half-shekel coin used in biblical census count discovered by archaeologists in Judean Desert

The survey is an ongoing project by the IAA meant to protect archaeological sites in the Judean Desert from looting and unauthorized excavations.

Rare half-shekel coin discovered in Judean Desert by the Israel Antiquities Authority, February 26, 2026.

The Jews of China: Harbin (part three)

In the third episode of their China series, Mark and David arrive in Harbin—the unlikely northern city that became home to one of the most vibrant Jewish communities of the 20th Century.

China

Israeli flag raised on historic Jordan Valley peak in the biblical heartland

According to the Heritage Minister’s office, the flag was hoisted on the mountain peak in a symbolic act that the ministry said reflects a renewed emphasis on Israel’s spiritual heritage.

An Israeli flag is raised on the peak of Mount Sartaba in the Jordan Valley, February 23, 2026.

Bronze scale pan found in ancient Sussiya reveals how biblical law shaped daily Jewish life

Neta, a second-grader at the regional school in Sussiya, and her father, Nachshon, discovered the pan inside a residential building near the town’s main street. 

Archaeologist Achiya Cohen-Tavor holding bronze scale pan found in the ancient Jewish settlement of Sussiya, February 19, 2026.

Portugal returns stolen Mayan, Zapotec artifacts to Mexico in first-ever archaeological restitution

INAH specialists were sent photographs of the finds and conducted a preliminary review of the three, confirming that they indeed “form part of Mexico’s archaeological heritage.”

Portugal returns three stolen artifacts to Mexico in handover ceremony at the Mexican Embassy in Lisbon, February 17, 2026.

Second Temple workshop found on Israel's Mount Scopus during investigation into antiquities thieves

The workshop was discovered at the Ras Tamim archaeological site on the eastern slope of Mount Scopus. 

Newly discovered limestone shards and vessels on display in the new "Criminal Past" exhibit at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel, February 16, 2026.

Authorities reveal discovery of fourth century Roman shipwreck off Italy’s southern coast

According to the ministry, the site has been under constant monitoring by Italy’s financial police to “protect the site from possible looting and to preserve its enormous scientific value.”

Divers carrying amphorae from the fourth century AD Roman shipwreck discovered off the coast of Gallipoli, southern Italy in June 2025.