In the 1940s, as the Jewish population in the Şişli-Osmanbey-Nişantaşı triangle increased due to Jews fleeing from the Nazis, the community sought a suitable location for a larger synagogue.
It was not until the beginning of the 1950s that they found what they were looking for and the Bet Israel Synagogue was finally opened in 1952.
It gained notoriety on November 15, 2003, when two suicide attacks by the Turkish affiliate of the Al-Qaeda network “Ebu Hafsa el-Mısri Tugayları” were committed on the Bet Israel Synagogue and the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Beyoglu.
Twenty-eight people were killed in the massive detonations, including six Jews, 17 Muslims and the assassins themselves. 240 people were injured, some of them seriously.