Page 198 - ISRAEL'S CRADLE

When Eliyahu Dobkin, a member of the Jewish Agency's Executive, was asked of this, he denied it:
The government never demanded the expropriation of the entire Agency building. On the contrary, the Jewish Agency had actually proposed transferring some of its offices to the government in order to facilitate its task of transferring its ministries and Knesset's offices to the eternal capital, Jerusalem.
On December 15, the "Al HaMishmar" newspaper announced that, moving to Jerusalem, the Knesset shall hold its meetings in the National Institutions Building, and that its opening meeting in the old-new home shall be on Monday, December 26. The estimate was that the meetings would be held in this place for two-three months, until the Knesset could find a permanent residence in Jerusalem. A day before the news item was published, on December 14, the Prime Minister arrived in Jerusalem accompanied by Cabinet Secretary Ze'ev Sherf, and both examined the initial arrangement made in the National Institutions Building in preparation for the transfer of the Knesset to the house. It was further announced that during the first stage, the Prime Minister's office would also reside in the Institutions Building, and that preparations were already made to make those rooms available for him. The meetings of the government, at least for the first two months of 1950, would also take place in said building.
Over the following days, news items continued to be published on the Knesset's place of residence and it turned out that competitors emerged for the National Institutions Building: The Teachers Seminar Building in Beit Hakerem, "Orion" Cinema in central Jerusalem and an additional building in the city center – "Frumin House." The Seminar building was immediately ruled out due to its relative distance from the center of Jerusalem. The "Orion" Cinema required many changes, while "Frumin House" was in the midst of renovations and could only accept the Knesset after many weeks. Another news item stated that the Knesset would convene at the National Institutions' Building only for a month, and move afterwards to the "Orion" Cinema, which would be prepared especially for this. At the same time, preparations would begin for finding a site for the Knesset's permanent building. The assumption was that within a year, it would be possible to inaugurate the permanent residence of the Knesset in Jerusalem. As we know, the reality was quite different and the Knesset Building was only inaugurated in the Summer of 1966.
A different sort of proposal also arose: The Knesset would divide its time between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem – a week in each city: In Tel Aviv, at its home for close to a year along the coast (the former "Kessem" Cinema), and in Jerusalem in the National Institutions Building. After the matter was examined the proposal was dropped and it was decided that the Knesset's deliberations would only take place in Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem, carpenters worked day and night to prepare the furniture needed for 120 Knesset Members in the large meeting hall of the Institutes Building. A special gallery was also prepared for the two hundred guests and was said that most of those who wished to come to the opening meeting – about a thousand – were denied entry. There was also a great demand for journalists
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