Kiryat HaMemshala ( he, קריית הממשלה, ''lit.'' Government complex), also known as Kiryat Ben-Gurion, (''lit.'' Ben-Gurion complex) is the government precinct of the State of Israel. It is located in the

Givat Ram Givat Ram ( he, גִּבְעַת רָם) is a neighborhood in central Jerusalem. It is the site of Kiryat HaMemshala (Hebrew: קריית הממשלה, ''lit.'' Government complex), which includes many of Israel's most important national instituti ...

neighborhood of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

History

Before 1948, maps of the area drawn by the

Survey of Palestine The Survey of Palestine was the government department responsible for the survey and mapping of Palestine during the British mandate period. The survey department was established in 1920 in Jaffa, and moved to the outskirts of Tel Aviv in 19 ...

team tagged its southern part as Karm es Sila, the name indicating that it had once been a ''karam'' (vineyard) belonging to a family by the name of Sala (שלה might be originally סלע or سلع), or that the vineyard stood near a stone quarry. The rest of the area belonged to the village of

Sheikh Badr Sheikh Badr ( ar, تلة الشيخ بدر, translit=Talla aš-Šayḫ Badr, lit=Hill of Sheikh Badr ; he, שייח' באדר) was a Palestinian Arab village on a hilltop in west Jerusalem. The Haganah expelled its population during the 1947� ...

. In December 1949, soon after the establishment of the state, the Israeli cabinet, then headed by

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

, voted to move most of the country's official government institutions from

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

to Jerusalem. Construction work began in 1950. The original plans were drawn up by the architectural firms of Munio Gitai Weinraub and Al Mansfeld, but they were not implemented. The complex was designed by architects

Richard Kauffmann Richard Kauffmann (1887–1958) was a German-Jewish architect who migrated to Palestine in 1920. His architecture was influenced by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a proponent of the International Style, and was applied to the local landscape, layin ...

, Joseph Klarwein and

Heinz Rau The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

. As of today, the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

is located in Kiryat HaMemshala, as are the Supreme Court of Israel, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

, the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

, as well as the Bank of Israel.

References

{{coord, 31, 46, 51.3, N, 35, 12, 2.48, E, region:IL, display=title 1950 establishments in Israel Buildings and structures in Jerusalem 20th century in Jerusalem

History

See also

References