Israeli couple donate $180 million to Petach Tikva hospital
The gift, said to be the largest ever in the history of Israeli healthcare, will focus particularly on the fields of heart and brain medicine
An Israeli couple, said to be among the richest in the country, have made a “historic” donation to the Rabin Medical Centre/Beilinson Hospital of $180 million.
Anat and Dr Shmuel Harlap’s gift, said to be the largest ever donation to the Israeli healthcare system, will enable the construction of a new Heart and Brain Centre at the Petach Tikva hospital complex. The Harlap family have announced that the new facility will be named “The Tower of Hope”, symbolising their desire to help healing divisions within Israeli society.
Shmuel Harlap, who made his fortune in car importing and licensing of in-car technology, has been a long-time philanthropist in Israel. After the 7 October 2023 attacks, the Harlaps donated 120 Mitsubishi Space Star cars to four of the southern kibbutzim devastated by Hamas terrorists.
The new hospital facility will open in 2027, it was announced at a signing ceremony on Wednesday, after which the Harlaps toured the construction site.
The couple said: “There is no place more fitting than a central public hospital to symbolise the healing of divisions within Israeli society. The Tower of Hope will serve all sectors of the Israeli public —secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox, Muslim, Christian, Druze, and Circassian. It will be a lighthouse of hope for all, and if we are fortunate to bask in its light, that will be our reward.”
The hospital’s chief executive, Dr Eytan Wirtheim, said: “This is an extraordinary and deeply moving gift, particularly because it is a ‘Blue and White’ Israeli contribution from Anat and Dr Shmuel Harlap. Driven by a sense of national mission, their donation will transform Israeli medicine for decades to come.”
The new 300-bed tower will house eight clinical departments in cardiology, neurosurgery, neurology, and thoracic and cardiac surgery. Three full floors will be protected spaces, including operating theatres, imaging units, catheterisation labs, and ICUs dedicated to cardiac, cardio-thoracic, neurology and neurosurgical care.
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