Bezalel is the name of a personage from the Bible and is the name of Israel's national school of art. In Exodus 35:30, Bezalel son of Uri, was appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle.

Many early Zionists, including Theodore Herzl himself, felt that Israel needed to have a national style of art combining Jewish, Middle Eastern, and European traditions. This style was named "Bezalel," Hebrew for "in God's shadow" as an illustration of god's creativity being channeled to a man of flesh and blood, providing the source of inspiration to Bezalel ben Uri in the construction of the holy arc.

Founded in 1906, the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is the most prestigious in its category in Israel. It is located on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. It has 1,500 students studying eight different disciplines.

Bezalel is the first to give diploma (BFA and BDes arch.) in Israel and has been a home and greenhouse for many artists and designers.