However, what most casual travelers and passersby don't see is that at night, when all the shops close, there are wonderful works of graffiti art on each of the shops' metal doors: portraits ranging from biblical leaders to contemporary political leaders, representing personalities from both sides of the Israel-West Bank security fence, so to speak.
Most of the art is created by Solomon Souza, who goes from shop to shop creating these vivid portraits for the world to see when they travel to the famous market.
This week, a new but very familiar face showed up on the metal doors of one of the shops: former United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. While holding the position from 2017-18, Haley was a staunch supporter of the State of Israel and fought vigorously to wash out bias from other countries looking to harm Israel through UN-sponsored resolutions.
Now, she has been immortalized within the Mahane Yehuda Market - rumored to be commissioned by Souza himself.
Mazal Tov @NikkiHaley! You haven’t really made it in #Israel, until you’ve been immortalized in graffiti art at Jerusalem’s iconic Machane Yehuda Market! pic.twitter.com/mblaF0b5gV
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) 25 ביוני 2019
Political analyst Arsen Ostrovsky wrote on Twitter: "Mazal Tov @NikkiHaley! You haven’t really made it in #Israel, until you’ve been immortalized in graffiti art at Jerusalem’s iconic Machane Yehuda Market!"
To see the artwork yourself, make sure to check out the closed door of Pepito's – and while you're there, check out all of the other famous personalities along the way, immortalized in Souza's portal portraits.