Israel approves NIS 25 million upgrade plan for underground movement museums

The Israeli government has approved a national plan, led by the Ministry of Heritage and the Defense Ministry, to spend about NIS 25 million upgrading the museums of the Haganah, Irgun, Lehi and Palmach ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Jewish resistance movement, known as the Te'enuat HaMered HaIvri. The initiative was promoted by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and is intended to end years of neglect at the sites and make the history they present accessible to more Israelis.

The approved budget includes NIS 10 million from the Ministry of Heritage and NIS 15 million from the Defense Ministry. It covers five core museums under the Defense Ministry Museums Unit, the Irgun Museum at Metzudat Ze'ev, the Irgun Museum in 1948, known as Beit Gidi, the Lehi Museum, the Haganah Museum and the Palmach Museum. The steering committee may also add other heritage sites, such as the Irgun Museum in Shuni, if they meet equal and professional criteria.

The project aims to modernize the museums, open them more widely to the public and improve access for ultra-Orthodox, secular and other audiences that have rarely visited them. Planned work includes physical and technological upgrades, preservation of aging historic buildings, improved educational programming, new interactive exhibits built to modern accessibility standards, and smart classrooms for guided learning.

A joint steering committee will run the project, chaired by the director general of the Ministry of Heritage and the director general of the Prime Minister's Office, together with the ministry's infrastructure chief and the Defense Ministry Museums Unit. Eliyahu called the decision a moral obligation and a correction of a historical injustice, while Ministry of Heritage director general Itai Granek said the goal is to move the museums from a narrow, sectoral audience to the broader Israeli public.