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Beit Oliphant

TIME : 2016/2/19 3:37:25

At the end of Twenty-Two St is Beit Oliphant (signposted as Beit Druze), home of the Christian Zionist Sir Lawrence Oliphant and his wife, Alice, between 1882 and 1887. The Oliphants were among the few non-Druze to have a close relationship with the sect and did much to help the community. Oliphant's assistant at the time was Naphtali Herz Imber, author of the words to Israel's national anthem, 'HaTikva', first published in 1886.

The ancient Roman column out front is a memorial to Alice, who died at age 36 – and with whom Imber was said to have been madly in love. The house now serves as the Druze Memorial Center , which commemorates the 398 Druze who have died while serving in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) since 1948.