The government, during its weekly meeting, decided to agree to establish the Albert Einstein House in Jerusalem, on the Edmond J. Safra campus of the Hebrew University.

The decision is a joint venture of the Hebrew University, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of the Treasury, and the Ministry for Jerusalem and Heritage, and it includes building a unique building on the Edmond J. Safra campus of the University, where the full Einstein Archives will reside. The archive will be made digitally accessible to the public, and will be an innovative complex for technological and scientific education.

In addition, the museum will display the legacy, activity and research of the Nobel laureate Prof. Albert Einstein. Using modern exhibition techniques, scientific demonstration and original documents, Einstein’s immense contributions to science will be presented, as well as those contributions’ effects on our lives today; his interest in issues that were on the agenda of humanity at the time; his public activity; and his deep connection to the fate of the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the Hebrew University.

The public will be able to visit Einstein’s reconstructed private library, enter his reconstructed office, and even peruse original documents. The project managers anticipate the Einstein House turning into a tourism cornerstone and a strengthening point of the government and academia complex in the center of Jerusalem.

The government has allotted 22.5 million NIS to the project. The Hebrew University has allotted 41 million NIS to the project.

The Prime Minister of Israel, Yair Lapid: “The State of Israel today is paying its respects to the legacy and activity of the greatest scientist in history – Prof. Albert Einstein. There is no better way to do so than the confirmation of the government’s decision just now, on the first day of the academic year. I am hopeful that the museum will be a touchpoint for the nation’s next generation, where they will be able to learn about his outstanding breakthroughs and the way that Einstein changed the whole world. I am thankful to the alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for promoting and leading this important decision, and all the partners.”

The Treasury Minister, Avigdor Liberman: “There is no better place to establish a museum for one of the greatest physicists of all time and one of the brightest minds of the Jewish nation, Albert Einstein, than the heart of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The investment in the museum that will present the legacy and activity of Einstein, whose scientific accomplishments changed the world of physics and are still influential today, will strengthen the Israeli academia and remind us all of the importance of quality scientific education.”

The Minister of Construction and Housing, Jerusalem and Heritage, Zeev Elkin: “On the first day of the academic year, we are bringing forth a significant decision to strengthen the Israeli academia, the capital of the State of Israel and the Hebrew University. The establishment of the Einstein House and building a permanent home for his full archive will strengthen the status of Israeli academia, and of the Hebrew University, in the international arena, will strengthen the international status of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, and bring tens of thousands of tourists to this unique museum. I want to thank all the contributors in the government and the University to this special project, and as a former graduate and lecturer at the Hebrew University, I wish good luck to the thousands of students who began their studies today in academia.”

The President of the Hebrew University, Prof. Asher Cohen, said that “The heritage of scientific and research excellence held by Albert Einstein, a staunch supporter of the State of Israel and one of the founding fathers of the Hebrew University, is present in every cornerstone on which the University stands. Einstein’s scientific accomplishments changed the world of physics and to this day influence the lives of each and every one of us – from lasers to nuclear energy and space flight. The source of all these, and more, are in the theory of relativity, which he developed at the beginning of the 20th century. In my name and in the name of the people of the Hebrew University, I would like to thank the government of the State of Israel for promoting the museum that will preserve and cherish the legacy of the greatest scientist of our time.”