On the other end of Jabotinsky St. from the President's House is King David St.
running northward to the base of Shlomtzion Ha-Malka St. and Shlomo Ha-Melekh
St. which runs uphill to Safra Sq. and the Old City. Just south of the intersection
with Jabotinsky St. is the sprawling, green Liberty Bell Park (Gan Ha-Pa'amon). An
amphitheater, basketball courts, climbable sculptures, and a Liberty Bell replica
grace the lawns. On Saturday nights, the park hops with folk-dancing festivities
(take bus #14, 18, or 21 from the center). Three hundred meters up King David St.
toward the city center, the Three Arches YMCA, built in 1933, has an imposing bell
tower with impressive views of the whole city.
YEMIN MOSHE AND MISHKENOT SHA'ANANIM
In the valley between King David St. and the Old City lies the restored neighbor-
hood of Yemin Moshe. It was here that Sir Moses Montefiore, a British Jew, first
managed to convince a handful of residents from the Old City's overcrowded Jew-
ish Quarter to spend occasional nights outside the city walls, thus founding West
Jerusalem. To strengthen the settlers' confidence, Montefiore built Mishkenot
Sha'ananim (Tranquil Habitations), a small, picturesque compound with crene-
lated walls resembling those of the Old City. The original buildings, located at the
bottom of the hill, now house an exclusive municipal guest house and a pricey
French restaurant. Montefiore also erected his famous stone windmill, which now
contains a tiny free museum. (Open Su-Th 9am-4pm, F 9am-lpm.) Yemin Moshe is
crammed with artists' studios and galleries; a plaza with a fountain beneath the
exclusive King David Apartments makes this a lovely spot to wander. The stepped
street of Hutzot Ha-Yotzer leads up to Hativat Yerushalayim St.; at #16 is the studio
of Motke Blum, whose subtle cityscapes brilliantly evoke Jerusalem in oil. The
now-dry Sultan's Pool (see 51) sits in the valley below. Named after Suleiman
the Magnificent, who renovated this Second Temple reservoir in the 16th century,
the pool figures prominently in Palestinian novelist Jabra Ibrahim Jabra's The
Ship. Today, the Sultan's Pool is most famous for its open-air concerts and annual
art fair in July or early August.
GERMAN COLONY AND HAAS PROMENADE
The German Colony, a neighborhood of somber European houses and spacious
Arab villas, surrounds Emek Refa'im St. a beautiful upscale avenue with a lively
THE TREE OF GOVERNANCE
Like everything else you see in Israel, the country's three branches of gov-
ernment reflect a lively dialogue between history and current forces.
LEGISLATIVE. The Israeli Parliament (Knesset) embodies various historical
layers that have shaped Israeli discourse and political structures. Named after
the "Knesset Gedola," the "Great Assembly" formed by the Jews who returned
from exile in Babylon in the fifth century ВСЕ, it symbolizes Jewish continuity
in the land. Like its ancient precursor, the Knesset is composed of 120 mem-
bers. The electoral system was inherited from the Jewish Parliament that oper-
ated under British rule (1917-1948), "Aseifat Hanivharim" ("The Assembly of
the Elected"). Back then, the Jewish Parliament had a very limited authority.