Formerly known as Beit Ha'Am, in 1961 the newly opened site was the venue for the trial of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, who sat in a specially-made bulletproof glass booth during the proceedings.

Beit Ha'Am (Hebrew: בית העם, literally, "People's House"[1]) was a public cultural program operating in various cities in Israel; it was underway in Jerusalem by 1904.

[2] It provided public lectures, cultural evenings, a reading library, and a venue in which people could meet and discuss the issues of the day.

[7] With the capture of the Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires and the decision by the Israeli government to try him for crimes against humanity, the newly opened Beit Ha'Am was chosen as the site for the trial, in part due to its ability to accommodate the many journalists and media correspondents expected to attend.

[11] After a last-minute appeal for clemency to Israeli president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi was also refused, Eichmann was executed shortly after midnight on June 1, 1962.

In the early 1980s[7] the Jerusalem Foundation undertook the creation of a major arts centre on the site and found a donor in Eliezer and Lucie Behar of France.

On the latter holiday, a free "Singing and Remembering" event combines performances by singers and songwriters with audience participation, as attendees are encouraged to "share stories about their personal connection to the Holocaust".

[21][22] Tens of thousands[23] of K–12 students visit the Gerard Behar Center each school year as part of the government's "Cultural Basket" program (Hebrew: אומנות לעם, Omanut La'Am), which mandates student attendance at "performances, art films and/or art exhibitions five or six times a year as part of their curriculum"; these activities are subsidized and transportation is provided.

[24] The Israel Broadcasting Authority sponsors an annual Competition for Young Artists in which musicians aged 18 to 30 compete for scholarships and the Gerard Behar Grand Prize.

[28] The northern façade of the Gerard Behar Center, facing Bezalel Street, features a 160-square-metre (1,700 sq ft) mural titled "Around the World in 92 Days".

[29][30] Painted in naïve art style, the painting depicts world landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Walls of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the pyramids of Egypt, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, bridges in London, and sights in India, with people and animals of all kinds walking along the streets and bridges below.

[29][30] On the sidewalk across the street from the mural stand five small pillars topped with engraved metal plates describing the work in Hebrew and English, and depicting reproductions of different parts of the painting for visually-handicapped persons, with explanations in Braille.