About the Museum:
Our Story
When looking back on the events that shaped the nation since its establishment and made Israeli society what it is today, it is impossible not to be filled with pride.
The Israeli pioneering, entrepreneurial, and creative spirit, not to mention our “chutzpa,” brought unprecedented achievements then and today.
At the same time, multiple junctions throughout our history have left us wounded. It is permissible and necessary to dwell on them,
provoke discussion and learn lessons for Israeli society’s strength, resilience, and future.
The museum at the Rabin Center tells the story of Israel, from the developing settlement
f the 1920s until the prime minister’s assassination, from the big events to the small moments. It is a story of a dream and fulfillment, building and creating, disputes, decisions, heartbreak, a hope for dialogue, and a better-shared future.
The Israeli Museum
Yitzhak Rabin Center
Israeli Museum Rooms
Room 1
Room 2
Room 3
Room 4
The Biographic Corridor
Room 5
Room 6
Room 7
Private Study
Room 8
Room 9
Room 10
The visit to the Israeli Museum starts in a round space simulating the Kings of Israel Square on November 4, 1995, the night of the assassination of the Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Yitzhak Rabin.
Visitors are invited to enter the square, whether as supporters of the rally that took place that same evening or as opponents. Upon exiting the square, the visitors arrive at the beginning of a descending spiral route that portrays the life of Yitzhak Rabin. This route opens along its entire length to large display rooms, presenting the saga of the State of Israel and Israeli society.
Within the rooms, there are two secondary axes:
One displays the conflicts and disputes that have divided Israeli society since its inception. This axis is shown in red steel triangles, breaking through the museum’s walls.
A second axis is a global timeline, noting prominent events that occurred worldwide, parallel to local events. This axis is situated on the floor of the museum.
In this room, the socio-political-diplomatic entity taking shape in the “Yishuv” is presented until the beginning of the Second World War and afterward until the establishment of a state.
The social facet is presented via Tel Aviv of the 1920s and 1930s through its various aspects of the “Bauhaus” (White City). The kibbutz and moshav settlement movements are also displayed through various display media. The security aspect is presented, among other ways, through the Great
Arab Revolt and volunteers to the British Army during World War II. The political aspect is reflected, inter-alia, in the presentation of the debate that arose in the Jewish Yishuv with the proposal of the first partition plan in 1937 (Peel Committee).
The second part of this section deals with the War of Independence, describing major events and battles until the signing of the armistice agreements in 1949.
This room represents the first two decades of the State of Israel.
The room opens with a description of the large waves of aliyah (immigration), the settlement of the olim (new immigrants) throughout the country, the establishment of development towns, the large nationwide companies of the 1950s, and the cultural wealth and diversity. At the same time, the display shows the young Israeli nation’s sense of being under siege following a series of security incidents throughout the period. The room concludes its display on the eve of the Six-Day War by describing the waiting period that preceded the war.
This room contains an exhibit of the story of the Six-Day War that created a new social, cultural, and security reality for the State of Israel.
The main means of display in this room is a film about seven minutes long, showing the phases of the war, the different fronts, and the results of the battles.
Towards the final part of the museum, a photo gallery of Yitzhak Rabin is displayed, showing the entire course of his life in rapid succession.
The right side of the short corridor shows aspects of his public life and the diverse collection of positions that he filled, a soldier, chief of staff, ambassador, defense minister, and prime minister. The left side displays his family life, his parents’ home, Nehemiah Rabin and Rosa Cohen, and the home and family he created with Leah née Schlossberg.
This room deals with the third decade of the State of Israel against the reality that the Six-Day War created.
The room starts with the pinnacle, which is the June 1967 victory, declining to the low of October 1973, and from there to the public protest that brought down the government of Golda Meir, leading to the first term of Yitzhak Rabin as Prime Minister and the upheaval of 1977.
The first part of this decade focuses on the new political map with the rise of the right-wing parties to the government and the peace treaty with Egypt. The second part deals with the Israeli response to the peace agreement and its price (the evacuation of the Sinai and communal settlements in the Rafiah Settlement Bloc.)
The first part of this room focuses on the enormous accomplishment made by the Likud Government headed by Menachem Begin – the peace treaty with Egypt. Further in the room is a display of the price paid for this peace – the evacuation of the Sinai and the destruction and demolition of the settlements built there. Additional exhibits in the room present the economic crisis of the 1980s and the sectarian polarization that intensified during those years. The second part of the room contains an exhibit displaying the First Lebanon War and the rift it caused in Israeli society.
The first portion of the room presents the First Intifada, followed by the First Gulf War that placed a new threat on the security of the citizens of the State of Israel – long-range missiles. An expansive area is dedicated to describing the massive aliyah from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS – Former Soviet Union) and Ethiopia during the 1990s, followed by the international peace conference that convened in Madrid.
The room concludes with the political upheaval of 1992 and the election of Yitzhak Rabin as Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister’s Private Study
The private study of Yitzhak Rabin was transferred to the Israeli museum and preserved there since its opening. The room’s dimensions are similar to the original space, and all of its details, the furnishings, books, and decorative items were placed precisely as in Leah and Yitzhak Rabin’s apartment.
In the center of the room, on the television, is the original Nobel Peace Prize diploma. The last televised sporting event (a soccer match between Hapoel Tel Aviv vs Beit Shean) that Rabin, an avid sports fan, saw before he went to the rally in the square where he was assassinated is shown on the TV.
This space differs from the rest of the museum. Until this point, visitors walked through two parallel stories that were presented in two separate spaces: The rooms displayed and presented the story of Israel. In contrast, the biography of Yitzhak Rabin was displayed in the corridor.
Now the two stories merge, the personal and the general – they are bound to and influence each other.
In this portion of the museum, Rabin is presented as a leader striving to generate a historic turn in relations between Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arab nations and consequently altering national priorities. Opposite this is a presentation showing Israeli society and the change that occurred through his leadership. In this framework, a description is given to the reactions to Rabin’s policies that, although they began as a legitimate protest, turned into wild and unbridled incitement.
In this room, four screens project various moments following the hours and days after the assassination: The announcement concerning the prime minister’s assassination, the crowd’s shock, the coffin’s journey, and the funeral ceremony.
Part of the ceiling of this space is made from glass, connecting it to the space above it – the entrance to the museum that simulates the Kings of Israel Square on November 4, 1995. The museum’s end returns to its beginning – the assassination of the prime minister and defense minister of the State of Israel.
The exit hall from the museum symbolizes the terrible loss and fracture, the continuity of the State of Israel, and the hope of drawing lessons from the murder.
