Contains exhibits about animals and the natural world. It is surrounded by a freely accessible park with exhibits including live animals, cultivated plants, and children's toys. Great for a family visit.
The Israeli Parliament Building. The Knesset offers guided tours (in Hebrew, Arabic, English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Amharic, Yiddish, and Finnish) for the public. Groups and individuals must call and arrange their guided tour in advance. You can observe the Knesset sessions from the public gallery on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Groups must call and arrange this visit; individuals may arrive directly with their identity cards or passports.
Located between the Knesset and the Central Bus Station, the Supreme Court building (opened 1992) is a mixture of traditional Jerusalem architecture and modern elements. Tours are available each weekday in Hebrew (11AM) and English (noon), or you could sit in on an ongoing court session.
Mount of Remembrance
This is Israel's national cemetery and memorial. It contains the graves of Theodor Herzl and four prime ministers including Yitzhak Rabin. The Herzl Museum is in the entrance plaza. There are memorials for terror victims and MIA soldiers. Near Herzl's grave is the Mount Herzl Plaza for the main ceremony of the opening of the Independence Day.
Yad Vashem is Israel's Holocaust museum - documenting the Holocaust, preserving the stories of its six million victims, and teaching future generations through its archives, library, school, museums and recognition of the Righteous Among the Nations. Yad Vashem is a large complex of tree-studded walkways leading to museums, exhibits, archives, monuments, sculptures, and memorials. In addition to the main museum, the underground Children's Memorial is recommended. Each tree on the museum grounds is planted in memory of a different non-Jew who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Children under ten are not allowed to enter the museum proper (IDs are checked) as the material can be disturbing, but they can go to other areas. Large bags must be checked in the Visitors' Center before entering the museum.
Mutzav HaPaamon
A Jordanian military position from 1948-1967, on the flat land between Kibbutz Ramat Rachel and the Arab neighborhood Sur Baher. In 1967 it was conquered by Israeli forces who circumvented it and attacked it from behind. There is now a tall monument on the site, and just to the south a military post with trenches and bunkers that can be explored. There is a nice view to the south of Bethlehem and its eastern suburbs, as well as parts of East Jerusalem.
Israel's national museum sprawls over a compound near the Knesset and covers a broad body and extremely unique body of work in its five wings. The Judaica Wing contains an unequaled collection of Jewish ceremonial pieces, tools, and artwork from throughout the Diaspora, as well as an entire replica of both a 17th century Italian synagogue and an Indian synagogue. Moving on, visitors can find the largest collection of artifacts found in Israel at the Archaeology Wing. The collection covers millennia of settlement in the Holy Land, from the Neolithic ancestors to the Canaanites to the ancient Jews. Probably the best-known wing of the Israel Museum is the onion-shaped Shrine of the Book, wherein the Dead Sea Scrolls, considered among the greatest discoveries of the 20th century, are permanently housed, along with the Aleppo Codex. Nearby is a large 3D model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple period. The Israel Museum also contains notable collections of pre-Columbian Central American Art, Primitive and Tribal Art, and a collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Art, which, though perhaps less connected to the Jewish state, are worth a visit for art lovers.