Israel Museum Ranks Among World's Top 20 Cultural Institutions

The Israel Museum in Jerusalem has been recognized as one of the world's leading cultural institutions, securing the 16th position in a new global ranking of the top 100 museums for 2026. The ranking, compiled by the German travel publication "Worth a Journey," placed the Jerusalem museum ahead of renowned institutions such as the Louvre in Paris, which ranked 31st, and the Vatican Museums, at 67th. The Israel Museum was the only Israeli institution to be included in the top 100 and ranked third in the Middle East. It was surpassed in the regional ranking by the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum in Turkey (6th globally) and the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza (15th globally). The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City claimed the top spot, followed by the Prado Museum in Madrid and Denmark's Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Other notable museums in the top rankings included the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (4th) and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (5th), with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art at 10th. Founded in 1965, the Israel Museum houses extensive collections of archaeological finds and art, including the Shrine of the Book, which displays the Dead Sea Scrolls. Its collections span the history of the Jewish people, archaeology of the Holy Land, Jewish ritual art, and European and contemporary world art. The "Worth a Journey" publication also released 37 other tourism-related rankings, with 22 Israeli sites appearing across 14 of these categories.