Knesset begins NIS 3 million renovations

MK offices to be renovated after 20 years; old furniture to be donated to IDF.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Knesset building with State symbol 390 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Knesset building with State symbol 390
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
The Knesset is undergoing an NIS 3,350,000 renovation during its summer recess, which began this week.
A sharp increase of visitors to the legislature, to almost 160,000 in the past year, required new arrangements, according to the Knesset Spokesman’s Office. As such, three multimedia classrooms will be built to enhance visits to the Knesset.
In addition, MK offices in the area of the Knesset building will be renovated after 20 years of use. Forty-eight offices will be painted and their carpets and furniture will be replaced. Some of the old furniture will remain in use in the Knesset and some will be given to the IDF.
A new ramp is being built to make the symbolic menorah in the Rose Garden outside the Knesset more accessible to handicapped people.
The plenum is also being renovated. The sound system will be replaced, as will the ceiling of the entrance hallway. Sprinklers will be installed according to new fire safety standards.
The wall of the plenum behind the stage where Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin sits and MKs give speeches was sculpted by Dani Karavan over 40 years ago. This summer, the Knesset will install the artist’s name and the title of his work – A Tribute to the Independence Scroll – on the wall in Hebrew, English and Arabic.