Israeli museums to look for heirs of Nazi looted art

Representatives of Israeli museums and the Company for Location and Restitution of Holocaust Victims' Assets decided in a joint discussion on Thursday to begin searching for the rightful owners of Nazi looted art currently in the country's museums and to return the works to them.

The meeting included, among others, representatives from the Culture Ministry, the Israel Museums Association, the Israel Museum, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Museum of Art, Ein Harod, Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and the Ghetto Fighters' House museum.

An Israel Museum representative said that the museum had begun the process of locating the rightful owners of looted works several years ago.

"Since the signing of the Washington document [on Holocaust era assets] in 1998, the Israel Museum began extensive efforts to return art works stolen by the Nazis in the Second World War, and today it is considered one of the leading museums in the world on this issue," read a statement from the museum.

"Thanks to the different processes undertaken by the Israel Museum, many art works have been returned to their owners since the year 2000."