(The museum doesn't mention this, but according to the book 'The Lion's Gate,' weapons and even disassembled jeeps were smuggled onto Mt. Occasionally there is a gem of historical information in English, such as the description of the two armored buses used to transport troops (disguised as police), nurses and doctors on service rotations at Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, an Israeli enclave surrounded by the Jordanian Army between 19. The museum displays have minimal explanatory information in English, so if you already are not well-versed in Israeli modern military history the draw of this place will mainly be the military equipment used by Israel and its enemies. There is no gift shop and, unlike the Air Force and Armor Corps museums, no guides are available.

A map to the museum is available in English but provides only brief descriptions of the contents of the buildings and no historical information or details about the equipment. The museum itself contains a restored 1892 railroad locomotive turntable that carries on the railroad theme of the shopping center.Īdmission is very reasonable, 15 shekels (less than $5), or 20 shekels for a combined ticket that includes four other smaller military museums in the Tel Aviv area. Although many military museums have abbreviated hours on Friday (Sabbath eve), this museum is closed all day on Friday as well as on Shabbat. There is a pay-for-parking lot in front of the museum and station. The museum is located adjacent to the restored Ottoman- and British-period Jaffa train station which is now a collection of restaurants, boutiques and art shops but is poorly-advertised and could be missed among the trees unless you know it's there. The original IDF Hebrew name for the place, the 'Collection Houses' (Batay Ha-Osef) is appropriate, as the museum's collection is housed in a small compound comprising about 18 buildings formerly used by the British Army during the Mandate period and some open-air displays of vehicles and artillery.

I have revisited it occasionally in the intervening years and three times over the past year and a half, and the museum and displays have changed very little over more than 20 years. I visited the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) History Museum shortly after it opened in the mid-1990s.

Military museum blue tanks