Summer recess repairs completed at Knesset

Extensive renovations of the Knesset plenum completed for the first time in 20 years, included new computer and communications systems.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Knesset session 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Knesset session 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Extensive renovations of the Knesset plenum were completed on Monday, for the first time in 20 years.
Knesset staff members presented the plenum to Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, after more than a month of repairs.
The renovations took place during the Knesset recess, and included rewiring and installing new carpeting as well as new computer and communications systems.
“Even the place where democratic decisions are made needs occasional repairs and improvements – but it never stops working,” Rivlin said, after examining the changes.
“The plenum’s systems were renewed after decades, and they will ensure that the Knesset will function properly in the coming years.”
Knesset Director-General Dan Landau said the NIS 600,000 renovation was meant to make the work in the plenum more modern and efficient.
“The awkward patchwork repairs of previous years are over. In the last Knesset session there were a number of technical errors that made work difficult. Today, after the renovations, the Knesset has been significantly upgraded, and looks the way the Knesset should in 2011,” Landau explained.
He also said the Knesset’s electronic voting system, which was installed eight years ago, will need to be replaced next year, and repairs to the Knesset’s infrastructure have made this possible.