Bet Hanekhot Bezalel, Museum of Jewish art and artifacts in Jerusalem, Israel

Bet Hanekhot Bezalel was a museum and exhibition hall opened in 1906 beside the Bezalel art school at 12 Shmuel Hanagid Street in Jerusalem. Its seven halls showed art mostly by Jewish artists, among them Shmuel Hirszenberg's "The Eternal Jew" (1900) and Abel Pann's pogrom paintings in the "Hall of Tears". The building now houses the Artists' House of the Jerusalem Painters and Sculptors Association.

The collection began in 1906 as a zoological museum assembled by Israel Aharoni, who gathered specimens for institutions such as the Berlin natural history museum and zoo; Boris Schatz wanted it to give Bezalel artists models of the Land of Israel's wildlife. From 1909 it turned ethnographic, and its display opened to the public at Passover 1912. In 1925 the zoological part passed to the Hebrew University, while the national museum opened on 2 June 1925 under Mordechai Narkis. Its collection joined the Israel Museum in 1965.

The Bezalel name comes from the biblical craftsman, and the museum grew out of Boris Schatz's art school on Shmuel Hanagid Street. Its seven halls were named after figures and themes, among them the Nordau Hall, the Hirschberg Hall with Samuel Hirszenberg's "The Eternal Jew" (1900), and the "Tear Jug" hall showing Abel Pann's pogrom paintings beside relics of anti-Jewish riots.

The building stands at 12 Shmuel Hanagid Street, next to the Bezalel art school site in central Jerusalem. The museum closed in 1965, when its collection was transferred to the Israel Museum, and the premises now house the Artists' House of the Jerusalem Painters and Sculptors Association. Visitors should check the current opening times of the Artists' House before going.

The institution developed alongside an art academy, making it more than just a display space but an active place where artistic ideas were shaped and developed. This connection meant that collections were chosen not only to show the past but also to inspire future creators.