We can look to more general concepts of international law to determine how questions of cultural and religious provenance can be considered when deciding the fate of such important ancient artifacts. Even peace treaties do not seem to remove all hostilities. There are yet significant parts of the population that oppose the peace process. Israelis point to the Jewish holy sites that the Palestinians have desecrated in the past as evidence that the Palestinians cannot be trusted to protect Jewish cultural artifacts. But there are other factors in addition to the doubts over whether a Palestinian state will properly care for the scrolls.
Geographic proximity is another factor.
The closer the objects are to the current borders of the state claiming them, the stronger the claim. In the case of the Dead Sea Scrolls, there can be no question that that is the Jews. These merits should obviously include such factors as the capacity of the home country to house, protect, study and display any material that is returned, just as much as the gratification of national pride or the soothing of national injury for political or sentimental reasons. They weigh heavily in favor of Israel's retaining the scrolls as a unique reflection of its cultural and religious patrimony.