BREAKING NEWS

Jerusalem's Int'l Convention Center to be named after Shimon Peres

The expansion of the facility will cover an area of 55,000 meters, making it potentially one of the most advanced congress centers in the Middle East.

OCTOBER 22, 2020 19:28

The International Congress Center "Buildings of the Nation," a massive infrastructure near the entrance to Jerusalem within the city, will decidedly be named after former president Shimon Peres, according to the buildings' directory.

The motion was initiated by Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog. The building is one of the major sites in Jerusalem, and was used to host the Eurovision Song Contest and former US President Barack Obama's speech in 2013. It building was originally erected in the 1950s with the sponsorship of the Jewish Agency, which sought to establish a conference center to host the Zionist Congress. The center was designed by architect Zeev Rechter, in a construction process that took place for a decade and completed in 1963.

The expansion of the facility will cover an area of 55,000 meters, making it potentially one of the most advanced congress centers in the Middle East. The building will consist of nine skyscrapers and 15 ten-story buildings, adding potentially 60,000 new jobs in the capital. The cost of the project is expected to be NIS 1.8 billion, and will be built over the next 10 years.

"This move was a natural decision. On our eastern side is Sixth President Avenue - Chaim Herzog, and on our western side, President Weizmann Avenue. The late Shimon Peres was a man of innovation, and even at his extreme age he always looked forward to an innovative future and renewable technologies for the benefit of man and the advancement of the State of Israel... therefore there is no suitable place for nation building in the 'Presidential Quarter' as a place to mark his special personality," the board's statement read.

"This is a worthy commemoration of one of the greatest leaders of the State of Israel, who promoted peace, economy, security and innovation in the State of Israel and saw Jerusalem as the beating heart of the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora," Herzog said. "As a Member of Knesset, Minister of Israel, Prime Minister and President for over 40 years, he navigated Israel responsibly, wisely and judiciously, and always saw to distances that few could, as he did with the construction of the Dimona reactor and the defense industry."

"I was privileged to work alongside him and was privileged to be intimately impressed by his devotion to the people and the state," he said. "There is no more appropriate place to bear the name of Shimon, as someone who believed in Israeli innovation as a key engine for growth and the advancement of the State of Israel."