Ben Yehuda was already one of Jerusalem's main streets long before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. As a busy thoroughfare, it has been a prime target for terrorist bombings between 1948, when the worst atrocity happened, and 2001, during the Second Intifada.[1]
In 1983, the street was closed to automobile traffic.[2] In Hebrew it is called a midrachov (pedestrian mall – a Hebrew neologism formed from the words "midracha" [sidewalk] and "rechov" [street].[3] Many of the businesses cater to tourists. The street is lined with souvenir and Judaica shops and sidewalk cafes, and street musicians play there throughout the day.[4] It was long considered the "secular heart of Jerusalem", but since the 2000s, disaffected Orthodox Jewish youth have joined the mix of tourists and locals.[5]