10018 Beit Dagan Weapons Exhibition 1957

The Beit Dagan Weapons Exhibition was held in 1957  shortly after the Sinai War and was one of the symbols of Israel’s victory in the Sinai War.

. The exhibition was set up in the “Exhibition Grounds” complex at the Beit Dagan Junction, which served in those years as a center for national fairs and exhibitions before moving to the Tel Aviv Exhibition Center.

The exhibition presented the weapons used by the IDF in the war alongside a large amount of loot taken from the Egyptian army. Among the exhibits were tanks, cannons, and combat equipment that fell into the hands of Israel during the campaign.

• The exhibition opened in April 1957 in the presence of senior state officials, including David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, and Shimon Peres.and Golda Meir. It attracted a large audience of civilians, student groups, and soldiers who came to witness the army’s achievements.
• As part of the exhibition, the first television broadcasting station in Israel was established, which broadcast visitors to the complex in real time.

Beit Dagan Junction was chosen due to its centrality and the possibility of allocating large areas for the display of heavy weapons. In parallel with the weapons exhibition, agricultural and subsidiary farm exhibitions were also presented in the complex.

The exhibition was considered a defining national event that demonstrated the strength of the IDF to the Israeli public in the early years of the state•