Froumine House

The Froumine family manufactured baked goods and the building was a residence with shops on the ground floor, based on plans by architect Reuven Abram (1892-1978).

In his book on construction in Jerusalem during the British Mandate, architectural historian David Kroyanker wrote that at the end of 1948, the government chose the building (then only a skeleton) as the home of the Knesset because of its large ground-floor hall.

In a Haaretz article in 2003, journalist Esther Zandberg speculated: "The first building's city-center site, and the location of the plenum hall at street level were, without a doubt, an urban expression of a point of view that saw democracy and the Knesset as part of everyday civil existence, in contrast with its isolation in the present-day fortified compound".

After weighing several options, including the King David Hotel, the Knesset selected Froumine House for a more permanent meeting place.

During Knesset sessions, King George Street in the area of Froumine House was closed for traffic, which caused great disruption to residents of the city.

During the demonstration against the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany in 1952, protesters threw stones at the building, shattering windows and penetrating the plenum chamber.

[citation needed] In 1956, in a green garden near the building, on the "Bor Shiber" lot, the distinctive bronze Knesset Menorah, a gift from the United Kingdom, was placed.