Secrets of Jerusalem's National Institutions Building

Join me on a tour of the National Institutions building in Jerusalem with Eitan Behar of the World Zionist Organization as he shows us the secret chambers where Jews hid weapons to prevent them from being confiscated by the British as the War of Independence loomed close. Learn about the deadly terrorist attack in 1948 which injured the parents of today’s Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the dramatic stories of this historic landmark that served as a center for Israel’s critical decisions.

Plus, vintage news reels from the watershed United Nations vote of November 29, 1947 and the reaction of the Jewish community in what was then called “Palestine”.

Today, the WZO, Jewish Agency, Jewish National Fund (KKL) and Keren Hayesod - United Israel Appeal are still instrumental in helping Jews in Israel and around the world make aliyah, fight Antisemitism, learn Hebrew and appreciate their culture.

Dancing in the plaza of the National Institutions building in Jerusalem on the night of the 29th of November, 1947.

Terrorist attack on the National Institutions Building, 1948.

Chaim Weizmann takes the oath as Israel’s first President at the National Institutions building in Jerusalem which served as the Knesset, 1949. Credit: Hugo Mendelson, Israeli Government Press Office.

National Institutions Building lit up for the 2024 Olympics. Credit: Ben Bresky

Synagogue of the National Institutions Building. The Torah scrolls are several hundred years old and rescued from Syria via a Jewish Agency Shaliach. Credit: Ben Bresky.

Eitan Behar, Director of Overseas Communications at the World Zionist Organization at the National Institutions building. Credit: Ben Bresky

NOTES:

• Eitan Behar website

• Jewish Agency Bombed - 1949 - Associated Press

• About the National Institutions Building - WZO