“Beth Hatefutsoth Law” passes Knesset

On Tuesday, December 6, 2005, the Knesset unanimously passed the Beth Hatefutsoth Law, which gives Beth Hatefutsoth the status of a national center for Jewish communities in Israel and the Diaspora.

In the final legislative session of the 16th Knesset, MK Inbal Gavrieli (Likud) and the members of the Education, Culture, and Sports Committee, chaired by MK Avraham Poraz (Shinui), succeeded in passing of the Beth Hatefutsoth Law.

The new law defines the status of Beth Hatefutsoth - the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora as a national institution and ensures funding and resources for its activities, including research, documentation, and collection of artifacts and knowledge related to Jewish communities and the history of the Jewish people, alongside the study and instruction of Jewish heritage and the dissemination, in Israel and abroad, of the history of the Jewish people in the fields of the art, culture, and science, the struggle for self-determination, and preservation of its heritage. The Minister of Education, Culture, and Sports is charged with implementation of the law.

MK Inbal Gavrieli, who initiated the bill, submitted it in 2003, when the Beth Hatefutsoth ran into severe difficulties and came close to of shutting its doors. The Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, gave his endorsement to her proposal and promised that he would help the museum find the resources needed to survive. Leonid Nevzlin, who is now the chairman of the Beth Hatefutsoth Board of Governors, responded to the Prime Minister’s request to help the institution together with the Claims Conference and support the efforts of the chairman of its Board of Directors, Shlomo Lahat and the Director of Beth Hatefutsoth, Ranny Finzi, to promote new projects.

In a statement released on December 7, 2005, Mr. Nevzlin stated: “I am delighted by the decision of the Government and the Knesset to declare of Beth Hatefutsoth a national institution in law. This is a vote of confidence in Beth Hatefutsoth as one of the most important institutions in the Jewish world and as the Israeli national center for Jewish communities around the world. Now we can begin to work together with representatives of the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora to make Beth Hatefutsoth one of the leading Jewish museums in the world.”

To view the Beth Hatefutsoth Law (PDF in Hebrew) click here.

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