Israeli university receives anonymous one billion shekel donation

Israeli academic institutions face difficult times due to state budget cuts and growing international boycott calls amid its ongoing war against Iranian-backed terrorist groups Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

However, Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv recently received an anonymous donation amounting to one billion shekels (over $270 million), which is reportedly the largest donation in the university’s history.

Bar-Ilan President Prof. Arie Zaban praised the anonymous donor as an individual who believes in the value of Israeli science and the high-tech industry.

"The donor, a man of broad academic knowledge, believed that developing Israel's technological resilience hinges primarily on groundbreaking science. During his visits to Israel, he was impressed by Bar-Ilan University's significant influence in key areas essential to the country's existence, thanks to its established scientific infrastructure and deep involvement in Israeli society in all its diversity,” Zaban said.

"We will invest this legacy gift in advancing Deep Tech sciences that will impact the future of Israel and humanity. This is just the beginning, and I call on additional partners to join us on the scientific path we are leading for the benefit of our society and economy," he added.

Zaban emphasized that Bar-Ilan University will remain a key player in advancing Israel's technological and economic prosperity in the future.

"More than ever, Israel needs technological resilience based on scientific innovation. This is the key to a thriving society and economy. Bar-Ilan will work to bolster the nation's technological resilience," he stated. 

Last month, Bar-Ilan announced that its engineering research team developed an innovative method to directly measure the interactions between attacking cancer cells and defending immune cells. The primary aim of this new technique is to enhance the development of more effective immunotherapy treatments for cancer patients.

Bar-Ilan University was founded in 1955 and named after Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan, a religious Zionist activist who believed in blending Jewish tradition with academic science. The university has strong Jewish-American roots as it was conceptually born in Atlanta, Georgia and established by Prof. Pinkhos Churgin, an American Orthodox rabbi and educator. Over the years, the university has developed into one of Israel’s largest and most respected academic institutions, with about 18,000 students and over 1,300 faculty members.

The large anonymous donation to Bar-Ilan University comes amid growing concerns regarding international boycotts of Israeli academic institutions amid the war in Gaza.

In April, Tel Aviv University (TAU) Prof Ido Wolf expressed concerns regarding a "creeping boycott" of Israel's academic institutions.

"In the past six months, the damage has become very apparent. Whereas pharmaceutical companies used to seek us out, today we have to fight them just to be included in a trial. Even scientific journals that used to favor and publish our articles are now rejecting us with various excuses. I'm talking about a new and threatening reality, one that we did not know in the past and certainly not to this extent," Wolf said.

“But what cannot be ignored is the creeping, low-key, underground boycott, whitewashed with legitimate excuses and disguised as something tolerable and forgivable," Wolf warned.