When you say the Bridge of Strings (Gesher Hameitarim) most Israelis immediately think about the huge (and controversial) bridge which for the past decade characterizes the entrance to Jerusalem, but it should be known that this is not the only string bridge in Israel.
The bridge, which appeared in the previous issue, is a bridge in Petach Tikvah connecting the Beilinson Hospital, the Grand Canyon, and Petach Tikva Park over the Jabotinsky Road.
The bridge was designed by the renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who also designed the Jerusalem String Bridge.
A string bridge, or by its professional name, a bridge of anchored cables, is the most complex type of bridge. Cable-anchored bridges exist only from the 20th century.
The bridge is built in the form of the letter Y, and has full accessibility for people with disabilities.
The name of the hospital, or actually hospitals, on the south side of the bridge can be confusing.
The Rabin Medical Center is comprised of three hospitals – Beilinson Hospital, Schneider Children’s Medical Center and the Golda Hasharon Hospital – located in another part of the city but belonging to the Rabin Medical Center.
And so we enjoy a blend of the names of a former Chief of Staff and a murdered Prime Minister (Yitzchak Rabin), the first and only woman prime minister in the history of the Middle East (Golda Meir), a physician-journalist (Dr. Moshe Beilinson) and Jewish philanthropists from the United States (Irving and Helen Schneider).
