The Rabin Medical Center announced Wednesday an unprecedented NIS 600 million ($160 million) donation, the largest single gift ever made to Israel’s health system.
The contribution, from Anat and Dr. Shmuel Harlap, owners of automotive giant Colmobil, will fund construction of The Tower of Hope, a new facility that will house advanced centers for cardiology and neurology.
“There is no place more fitting than a central public hospital to call for healing society’s wounds,” the Harlaps said in a statement. “The Tower of Hope will serve all parts of Israeli society—secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox, Muslim, Christian, Druze and Circassian. It will be a beacon of hope. If we are fortunate to be sheltered in its light, that will be our reward.”
The couple has previously donated to Rabin and Hasharon hospitals, but this gift marks their largest yet. The 15-story, 70,000-square-meter facility—scheduled to open in early 2027—will add 300 hospital and intensive care beds. Three fully fortified floors will house operating rooms, imaging units, catheterization labs and intensive care wards for cardiology, cardiac surgery and neurosurgery.
The new Heart Center will feature expanded intensive care units, advanced imaging technologies (including CT, MRI and echocardiography) and specialized departments for congenital heart disease, heart failure, transplants and electrophysiology. The Brain Center will double the number of neurology and neurosurgery beds, add a joint ICU and introduce new services such as a stroke command center, advanced operating theaters, epilepsy diagnostics and a neurological research institute.
“This is world-class care—360 degrees of advanced technologies, services and diagnostics,” said Prof. Eitan Auriel, director of Rabin's Brain Center. Prof. Ran Kornowski, head of the Heart Center, said the new facilities will “improve decision-making, raise quality of care and enhance the patient journey.”The donation comes as Rabin’s sister hospital, Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, struggles to recover from a direct missile strike during June’s war with Iran. Soroka, which serves more than 1 million residents of the Negev, is operating at reduced capacity with eight operating rooms destroyed and needs at least 300 million shekels in initial funding to restore full operations. Long-term reconstruction, including a new fortified tower, is estimated at more than NIS 1 billion.
Dr. Eitan Wertheim, director of Rabin and Hasharon hospitals, said the donation will transform Israel’s public health landscape for decades: “The Tower of Hope will unite the best knowledge, technology, research and innovation under one roof, enabling us to provide lifesaving care for every citizen. This is a landmark moment for the Rabin Medical Center and for the entire public health system.”