Israel's Rabin Medical Center's Tower of Hope $180 Million Donation Mends The "Broken Israeli Stretcher"
An architect's rendering of the Tower of Hope Heart and Brain Center at Israel's Rabin Medical Center, made possible with a $180M donation from Dr. Shmuel & Mrs. Anat Harlap [Credit: Rabin Medical Center]
Dr. Harlap stated, “A public hospital best represents the healing of divisions in Israeli society.”
At an inaugural event celebrating the new Tower of Hope heart and brain center, Dr. Harlap stated, "The Israeli stretcher has broken under the weight of incitement, divisiveness and hatred, which weakened Israel over the past few years and dragged us to Oct. 7. Our gift is meant to join the efforts to fix the stretcher and mend its broken pieces.”
The "stretcher" refers to a part of Israeli combat units final training, where soldiers share the burden of carrying a stretcher through grueling trials. It has become a national metaphor of community and unity, and one that Anat & Dr. Shmuel Harlap addressed during the recent celebration of their $180 Million donation to Rabin Medical Center.
The couple expressed their profound dedication to bringing back the communal and collective energy that has defined Israel for decades. With nearly 100,000 Israelis leaving the country in the past year for jobs and careers abroad, the Harlaps hope that their gift - the near complete "Tower of Hope" - will encourage talented Israeli doctors and medical staff to remain.
Dr. Shmuel Harlap, Israeli businessman and chairman of the Colmobil group, has made the largest donation to Israel's healthcare system: $180M to Israel's Rabin Medical Center, located in Petach Tikvah, Greater Tel Aviv.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog & First Lady Michal Herzog with Dr. Shmuel & Anat Harlap at Rabin Medical Center [Photo by Rabin Medical Center]
Luminaries from across the country came to celebrate this momentous gift: a state-of-the-art 750,000-square-foot facility that includes cutting-edge cardiology and neurology care, national transplant units, advanced surgical suites, and AI-assisted diagnostic systems. In addition to 12 above-ground floors, there will be three fully fortified subterranean floors that will house operating rooms, imaging units, labs and intensive care wards for cardiology, cardiac surgery and neurosurgery.
In attendance of this celebration included Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, journalist and former MK Ofer Shelach, New York Times correspondent Ronen Bergman and businessman Rani Rahav. They were joined by Moshe Bar Siman Tov, director general of the Israeli Ministry of Health; Yochanan Locker, chairman of Clalit Health Services, which owns the hospital; and senior medical staff, including Dr. Ran Kornowski, director of the Heart Center, and Dr. Sagi Harnof, director of the Brain Center.
President Herzog announced to the crowd, “This donation is not to be taken for granted, especially when one considers that it comes from such deeply rooted Israelis who are soulfully connected to the nation and its people and who bring forth their commitment in myriad ways. This is a most important precedent for civil society and for the field of philanthropy in the state of Israel.”