Founder and First Director: Joseph Pa'amoni

Chair: Niva von Weisl

The aims of the Jabotinsky Institute, founded over 70 years ago, are to foster and disseminate the legacy of Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky and the National Movement, and to encourage scholarly research on these subjects.
The Institute's main components are the Jabotinsky Museum and the Archives of the Jabotinsky Movement, both of which showcase the movement's history, factions, institutions and prominent personalities.
The Jabotinsky Institute was founded in 1937 by Joseph Pa'amoni. Mr. Pa’amoni (1902-1966) had personally initiated collecting documents and photographs pertaining to Ze'ev Jabotinsky's activities and writings. Unknowingly, his work formed the basis of realizing the 1933 resolution of the movement's Central Institution to establish an archive — to be called the "Betar Museum" — to serve as the official repository of the movement's publications.
The Institute's beginnings were quite humble: From its first home in the laboratory of Kupat Holim Leumit (the Leumit Sick Fund) on 44 Nachlat Benyamin St., Tel Aviv, it moved to the basement of the “Metzuda” on King George Street, until finally reaching the present location on the first floor of Beit Jabotinsky.
In 1947, shortly before the British authorities outlawed Betar, Pa’amoni and friends decided to change the name of the "Betar Museum" to "The Jabotinsky Institute," thus saving the museum and its collections from confiscation by the CID (British Intelligence).
In 1958, the Jabotinsky Institute's archive was recognized as a Public Historical Archive, in accordance with the Archives’ Law (1955).
Through the years, the Institute has grown to include a state-of-the-art museum, open to the public, and an impressive program of study days and seminars attracting growing numbers of audiences. To broaden its scope, the Institute has undertaken an ongoing commitment to initiating research, publishing books, and other activities of national and international status. Recently, Institute has completed the first phase of the monumental project to upload the archive’s million documents onto the Internet.

The Jabotinsky Institute is a registered Israeli non-profit organization (Amutah number 580028736.)
Chairmen of the Institute who succeeded Pa’amoni are, in chronological order:
Moshe Himmelfarb z”l (1952-1958); Alexander Gurewitz z”l (1958-1963); Yehuda Ben-Ari z’l (1964-1980); Ben-Zion Keshet z”l (1981-1984), Dr. Ely Tavin z”l (1984-1994); and Peleg Tamir z"l (1994-2011).

The Archive

From the onset, the archive has endeavored to perform its mandate of collecting and preserving documents, publications and photographs of Ze’ev Jabotinsky and the Revisionist Movement. Today, it holds the over one million documents, including records of the Etzel, Lehi, Herut Party, Gahal, Mahal, Likud and Betar movements in Israel and abroad. Visitors have access to professional guidance and assistance, modern reading room with on-line computers, a microfilm reader, and full use of the rich reference library. To date, 44 of the most important archives are now Internet accessible, including selections from the Jabotinsky Personal Archives, as well as the Etzel, Betar Eretz Yisrael Archives. Presently the material is in Hebrew only. Budget permitting, efforts to upload the entire collection will continue, including rare newspapers and photographs.

The Museum

The Jabotinsky Museum is visited yearly by thousands of schoolchildren, soldiers, policemen, and private individuals. Among the extensive educational activities available to visitors are video or DVD films on the movement’s history, afternoon extracurricular activities on Zionism and Eretz Israel for young olim (immigrants) from the FSU and Ethiopia, and evening lectures and seminars open to the general public.
The two exhibitions currently on display are “Ze’ev Jabotinsky — A Historical Life-Span,” and “The National Sport — the Af-Al-Pi Illegal Immigration.”

Publication Department

In addition to publishing a full range of Jabotinsky's writings, The Jabotinsky Institute also produces research and source books. The Institute’s quarterly Newsletter provides reports on the various activities of the Institute, visits by Israeli and international leaders, and new research underway.

Academic Committee

The Academic Committee, currently chaired by Professor Arye Naor of Ben Gurion University in Beersheba, is composed of historians and research scholars from all Israeli universities. The Committee initiates and follows up research projects conducted by academics, as well as allocating annual grants to students and research scholars.

The Amutah (the General Assembly of the Jabotinsky Institute)

The General Assembly hears and discusses reports on the activities of the Executive Board and the Control Committee, as well as the Financial Report prepared by the Institute’s CPA. The GA elects the executive board and the control committee. The public is invited to join the Jabotinsky Institute's Amutah by remitting a 240NIS ($65) annual membership fee.

Executive Board

The Executive Board consists of 11 members: Chair - Yossi Ahimeir; Deputy Chair - Lior Haimovich, Adv.; Dr. Karny Rubin; Dr. Urit Boger; Yardena Meller-Horovitz; Brigadier Ganeral (Res.) Oded Tyra; Pinchas Mariinsky, Adv.; Sami Israel, Adv.; Ariel Bulstein, Adv.; Yaniv Renginiano; Eli Cohen.

Address:
Beit Jabotinsky, 1st Floor, 38 King George Street, Tel Aviv, Israel

Mailing Address:
POB 23110, Tel Aviv 61230, Israel

Telephone:
+972-3-5287320, +972-3-6210611

Fax:
+972-3-5285587

E-mail:
office@jabotinsky.org