Shaare Zedek head to visit Australia

The president of Jerusalem’s major trauma hospital says a fundraising trip to the United States following the outbreak of war between Israel and Iran was among the most successful of his career, as he prepares to visit Australia for the first time in 26 years.

Professor Jonathan Halevy, who has led Shaare Zedek Medical Centre for 38 years, told The AJN that diaspora donors have responded to the Iran conflict with heightened generosity.

The 77-year-old gastroenterologist admitted he had once recoiled at the idea of asking for money.

“When I came on board, I thought to be a schnorrer is the most humiliating thing one could think of,” he said.

Thirty-eight years later, he sees it differently.