Beit HaNassi
Beit HaNassi (Hebrew: בֵּית הַנָּשִׂיא ("President's House"), also known as Mishkan HaNassi (Hebrew: מִשְׁכָּן הַנָּשִׂיא) is the official residence of the President of Israel. It is located in the Talbiya neighborhood of Jerusalem.
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History
Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, lived in his private villa in Rehovot. His successor, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, lived in a modest apartment in Rehavia and used a wooden cabin, known as the "tzrif", or "cabin", as his official reception hall. After President Ben-Zvi's death in 1963, the government decided to build a permanent residence for the head of state. The original idea was to incorporate it in a complex of government ministries, but the state's third president, Zalman Shazar, who was very much a man of the people, wanted to live in a residential area and not in splendid isolation, and persuaded the government.[1] As a result, they approved the construction of a permanent presidential residence on a 10-dunam plot in Talbiya.[2] A competition for the architectural design was launched in 1964 and limited to Israeli architects.[1] Of some 200 entries, the design submitted by Jerusalemite architect Abba Elhanani was selected.[2] Beit HaNassi was inaugurated in 1971 by President Shazar.[1][2] The designs came under harsh criticism from different public figures.[2]
During the visit to Israel of Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, President Shimon Peres inaugurated a new custom that all visiting world leaders would plant an olive tree in the Beit HaNassi peace garden.[3]
In October 2017, work was completed on a new, enlarged entrance to Beit Hanassi to enable faster processing of visitors to major events at the residence.[4]
Gallery
- Meeting room in 2008
- U.S. President Clinton at menorah lighting ceremony at Beit HaNassi, 1998
References
- Greer Fay Cashman (30 April 2009). "Rothschild family steps in to rescue Beit Hanassi". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- David Kroyanker (3 March 2010). "From modesty to monstrosity". Haaretz. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- Pope To Lay 'Roots Of Peace' In Beit Hanassi Visit Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Turkish Weekly, 1 May 2009
- New entrance for president's house
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