Hamas Releases American Hostage Whose Family Purchased Hunter Biden’s Art

Wendell Husebø

Hamas released on Sunday four-year-old hostage Abigail Mor Edan, whose great aunt is a reported buyer of Hunter Biden’s artwork and a big donor to Democrats.

The release of Abigail suggests that her connections to the White House may have motivated the Biden administration to lobby Hamas to prioritize her release over other American hostages.

Abigail was among 17 hostages freed on the third day of the ceasefire, and Hamas still holds nine Americans hostage, the White House said Monday.

Abigail’s great-aunt, Liz Hirsh Naftali, reportedly purchased Hunter Biden’s art and was placed on the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad by President Biden.

Business Insider reported the finding in July:

In July 2022, eight months after Hunter Biden’s first art opening, Joe Biden announced Hirsh Naftali’s appointment to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. It is unclear whether Hirsh’s purchase of Hunter Biden’s artwork occurred before or after that appointment.

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An administration official told Insider that her appointment had been recommended to Biden by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They said there was no connection between her art purchases and her appointment. They said that Hirsh Naftali was deeply involved with Jewish causes in Los Angeles and Israel — valuable background for a commission that works to preserve many historic Jewish sites across Europe. They noted her service on a policy board at the RAND Corporation, a prominent think tank. Membership on the commission is an unpaid position that is often filled by campaign donors, family members, and political allies — the same crowd that often winds up with US ambassadorial appointments.

“Hirsh Naftali’s fundraising activities mark her as the kind of well-connected donor who often wins such appointments, regardless of any relationship they might have with the president’s family. But they do not address the possibility that Hunter Biden might have voiced his support for her appointment,” Business Insider concluded.

Follow Wendell Husebø on “X” @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.