Last Updated on August 25, 2021
Pesach: Enjoy free entry into Israel’s Museums
Every year during Hol HaMoed, Pesach, Bank Hapoalim sponsors free entrance to selected museums across Israel. This is a very popular event and Israelis take full advantage of the opportunity to visit some of the really well known museums as some lesser known ones. If you are touring Israel this Pesach take advantage of this opportunity – cut your holiday expenses and don’t blow your travel budget. We suggest calling the museum before setting out and verifying opening hours and other details.
Museums in Northern Israel
The Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum
The Ghetto Fighters’ House – Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum was founded in 1949 by Holocaust survivors and members of the Jewish underground in the ghettos of Poland, and veterans of partisan units. It would be a place that would tell the story of the Jews during the 20th century and during the Second World War. The Ghetto Fighters’ House was the first museum in the world to commemorate the memory of the Holocaust and Jewish resistance.
The Galilee Sculpture Festival in Maalot
Tel: 04-9578871
The International Sculpture Festival, “Stone in the Galilee” in Lake Monfort-Ma’alot-Tarshiha, will take place during Hol Hamoed Pesach and will offer to it’s visitors sculpture exhibitions of local and international artists.
The Deer Forest
Tel: 050 872 3920
Ya’ar HaAyalim is a deer forest in Odem in the Golan. Visitors can wander among the different species of deer and feed them too. Visitors can also learn how a shofar (ram’s horn) is made. Pony rides and picnic areas, a petting zoo for small animals and other fun activities for children.
The Golan Antiquities Museum
Tel: 04-6961350
Situated in Katzrin this museum displays artifacts from the Golan Heights including Hebrew inscriptions from ancient synagogues in the area. A special audiovisual presentation and exhibition shows the heroic history of Gamla.
Park Katzrin
Tel: 04-6962412
Located near Katzrin, it features a reconstructed synagogue and village from Talmudic times including a house furnished with domestic artifacts of the period.
The Umm el-Fahem Art Gallery
Tel: 04-6315257
The Umm el-Fahem Art Gallery was established in 1996 as a venue for contemporary art exhibitions and a home for original Arab and Palestinian art. The gallery operates under the auspices of the El-Sabar Association. Yoko Ono, widow of the legendary John Lennon from the Beatles, held an exhibition there in 1999.
The Treasure of the Walls
04-9911004
The museum is located inside the north-eastern walls of old Acre. The walls were initially built by the Ottoman ruler of the area Ahmed Al-Jazzar Pasha after Napoleon´s attempt to conquer the city in-1779. The commander´s tower “Burge-el-commandar” is divided into arched halls which were used to hold the Ottomans garri and now hold a beautiful and rare collection which gives an insight into the fabric of life in the Galilee during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries.
Farm Experience in Bet Shean
Tel: 052-9686789
Visitor center and farm experience. Activities for the whole family: small calves, a maze of hay packages, a petting corner and a petting zoo, a creative corner with agricultural emphasis and more.
Haifa Museums
The Haifa Museum of Art
Tel: 04-9115997
The museum owns a variety of over 7,500 artworks by Israeli and international artists, from different movements and phases in art. Leading names such as Marc Chagall, Joseph Zaritsky, Mordechai Ardon, Lea Nikel, Raffi Lavie, Moshe Gershuni, Michael Neeman, Pinchas Cohen Gan, Tzipi Geva, Yechiel Shemi, Yitzhak Danzinger and more.
The Janco-Dada Museum (Ein Hod)
Tel: 04-9842350
The Janco Dada Museum is located in Ein Hod, Israel (Highway no. 4) . It is a museum that exhibits the work of Marcel Janco as well as art from the Dada movement and contemporary art too.
The Haifa City Museum
The Museum is located in the former Templar school and community center buildings in the German Colony. The Templar community center features exhibitions devoted to the history of Haifa including its architecture, urbanism, art and culture.
The Mane Katz Museum
Tel: 04-9119372
Mane Katz was a member of the Ecole de paris – a group of young artists, many of the Jews, who arrived in Paris from Eastern and Central Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. The museum building was in fact, Mane Katz’s home. The displays are aimed at comparing his works with other contemporary artists in Israel.
The Tikotin Museum
Tel: 04-8383554
Porcelains, items for tea ceremonies, calligraphies, modern graphics and a selection of other art pieces, by important Japanese artists. Collections from the past and present. If you are fascinated by Japanese culture, you will enjoy this small museum
The National Maritime Museum
Tel: 04-8536622
The collection of the National Maritime Museum is comprised of several sub-collections that express mankind’s connections with the sea: marine art, mythology, ancient anchors and coins, scientific instruments, antique storage vessels, maps and graphic works, models of old and new ships.
Museums in Central Israel
The Rabin Center Israeli Museum
Tel:*4585
The Israeli Museum at the Yitzhak Rabin Center is the first and only museum in Israel to explore the development of the State of Israel as a young democracy. The Museum presents two parallel stories: the history of the State and Israeli society, and the biography of Yitzhak Rabin.
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Tel: 03-6077000
The works of both Israeli and international artists including impressionist and post-impressionists are permanently on display and include the works of Cezanne, Chagall, Dali, Monet, Henri Moore, Rodin, Archipenko, Picasso, Klimt and Kadinsky. Put this at the top of your list of ‘must see’ art museums.
The Design Museum Holon
073-2151500
The Design Museum Holon Collection is a young, evolving, and dynamic collection that extends over four main continuum’s:
- Historical Design
- Contemporary Design
- Commissioned Works
- Academic Projects
The Nachum Gutman Museum of Art
Tel: 03-5161970
The work of artist Nahum Gutman in oil, gouache and watercolor are on display here, as well as several thousand drawings and illustrations.
The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
Tel: 03-5339278
The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehuda is both a Research Institute and a Museum, with an impressive collection of ethnographic material, Judaica, archival documents, books and manuscripts.
The Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art
Tel: 09-9551011
The Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art is located in a beautifully preserved building in the architectural traditions of the 1960’s. A spacious and bright building surrounded by a sculpture plaza The museum shop offers limited editions of young Israeli art items. The museum features five unique exhibitions: 4 of which are by Israeli artists: Shai Azoulay, Yehuda Porbuchrai, Ada Ovadia and Gabriel Cohen, and another by Miri Segal, which covers 20 years of video creation.
Museums in Jerusalem & Environs
Yad LaShiryon at Latrun
Tel: 08-9784302
The Yad Lashiryon Memorial at Latrun is the Armored Corps’ Memorial Site. Here, the Armored Corps remembers its fallen comrades, every hour of every day, all four thousand nine hundred and sixty-five together and each individual – their personalities as individuals and as fighters, how they lived and how they died. Close by is the Latrun Monastery of the Trappist order.
The Bible Lands Museum
Tel: 02-5611066
The Bible Lands Museum is an archaeological museum in Jerusalem, Israel, that explores the culture of the peoples mentioned in the Bible, among them the ancient Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, Arameans, Hittites, Elamites, Phoenicians and Persians.
Hasmonean Aqueduct Tour
Tel: *6033
Part of the City of David here you will enjoy incredible views of Ancient Jerusalem from various key vantage points along the Armon Hanatziv Promenade and discover the importance of the water system that Herod built south of Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens
Tel: 02-6794012
Aloes from Africa, roses from Kurdistan, medicinal plants from the Mediterranean or even Giant Taro from the tropics, there is something for everyone within the Gardens’ varied exhibits. The Gardens provide an ever-changing canvas of colors, textures and fragrances all year round. Lovely restaurant too!
Museums in the South of Israel
The Ashdod Art Museum Monart Center
Tel: 08-8545180
Overlooking the Ashdod marina the Ashdod Art Museum exhibits Israeli and international modern and contemporary art. The museum’s special architecture and internal design challenges the curator and the visitor, offering unusual displays.
Arad Glass Museum
08-9953388
The museum was established in order to fulfill one man’s dream. Gideon Fridman wanted to build an Israeli home and the right stage for glass art in Israel.
The Corinne Mamane Museum of Philistine Culture
The Corinne Mamane Museum of Philistine Culture is the only archaeology museum in the world that is dedicated completely to Philistine culture.
The Museum of Water and Security at Kibbutz Nir Am
Tel: 050-9672874
This museum provides visitors with a unique perspective for understanding the issues of settlement, water, agriculture and Israel’s wars since the 1930’s to Israel’s War of Independence.
The Joe Alon Center for Bedouin Culture
Tel: 08-9913322
A rich and varied display of Bedouin ethnic items and artifacts can be found at The Museum of Bedouin Culture as well as contemporary Israeli art.
While these museums are NOT PART of Bank Hapoalim’s free museum entrance, they are interesting and enjoyable for the whole family. Please call first for entrance fees and other information.
The Ariel Center – Historic Jerusalem (First Temple Period)
Tel: 02-6286288
The Ariel center is unique in that it focuses on the study of Jerusalem during the First Temple period. A new model showing Jerusalem towards the end of the First Temple period has been installed at the center.
Outlook, the Park Hayarkon Visitor’s Center
03-642-3111
The Chanan Rozen Museum of Israeli Art Ramat Gan
03-7521876/7
This museum was established in 1987 and ever since exhibits Israeli Art at different disciplines including painting, sculpting, photography, and two and three dimension design. Five exhibitions are on display at the same time each in a different exhibition hall.
The Rishon L’Tzion Museum
Tel: 03-9598862
The Rishon Le-Zion Open-Air Museum is dedicated to preserving the unique historical and cultural contributions of this town – a fast-growing metropolis only 20 minutes from Tel-Aviv.
The Igudan Visitors Center
Tel: 03-9555222
With limited water supplies in Israel, water conservation is important. We do not often think about the waste-water treatment process. Here you can follow the process of how waste-water is treated from the moment you turn off the tap or flush the toilet. See our water saving tips.
Beit Hatfutsot (Diaspora Museum)
03-7457808
The Diaspora Museum chronicles 2,500 years of the history of Jewish people across the globe. Be prepared to spend at least 4 to 5 hours exploring the exhibits.
The Museum of Art at Ein Harod
Tel: 04-6485701
The Museum of Art Ein Harod was established in the 1930’s by kibbutz members, in a wooden hut in Kibbutz Ein Harod and was one of the first art museums founded in the country.
The Museum of the First Aliyah in Zichron Yaakov
Tel: 04-6294777
Also known as the Zichron Yaacov museum, this museum is dedicated to the activities of immigrants who came to Israel with the first aliya. Works of sculptor Ora Rozenzweig is one of many exhibits at the museum.
The Communications Museum at IDC Herzliya
Tel: 09-9522795
On the IDC University campus, this museum focuses on the media’s important, historic contribution to human culture and to the ties between people that go beyond borders.
The Herzilya Museum of Contemporary Art
Tel: 09-9551011
Currently on view are one-person shows by Tal Frank and Uriel Miron; a project by French artist Julien Salaud, one of the most interesting voices on the contemporary international art scene.
The Khan Museum in Hadera
Tel: 04-6324562
The remains of an ottoman farmstead dating from the late 19-th Century.
The Temple Mount Sifting Project
Tel: *6033
Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira under the auspices of Bar-Ilan University have established a project for sifting the earth debris that has been removed from the Temple Mount. Just last week a fragment of a finger was found – according to its material and style it seems to be from an Egyptian statue from the Late Bronze period (or earlier), the time of the Exodus.
The Old Yishuv Court Museum
Tel: 02-6281266
Situated in Or Ha-Haim Street, a narrow passageway winds its way from the Jewish Quarter to the Armenian Quarter. This museum, housed in an enchanting, ancient building, offers a glimpse at the daily life of the Jewish community in Jerusalem living between the walls of the Old City in the 19th and 20th centuries, until their expulsion in 1948.
The Shai Agnon House
Tel: 02-671-4876
Nobel prize winner in literature and one of Israel’s most influential writers, Shai Agnon is famous all over the world. This museum was once his house.
The Air Force Museum at Kibbutz Chatzerim
Tel: 08-9906853
The Air Force Museum at Kibbutz Chatzerim is a fantasy come true for all children and aspiring pilots, the museum displays over 150 Israeli airplanes, from several generations of Israeli air combat and from every major operation in Israel.
The Negev Museum of Art
Tel: 08-6993535
The Negev Museum of Art is set in a building that dates back to the turn of the 20th century, known as the Governor’s House. There are four exhibition halls where the museum holds changing exhibitions of early
The Eilat City Museum
Tel: 08-6340754
The Eilat City Museum was built by a group of Eilat residents on the ruins of an American fast-food restaurant. The intimate museum explores Eilat’s growth and development through exhibitions and artifacts dating back to the Israel’s War of Independence
