Shaare Zedek head to visit Australia
Professor Jonathan Halevy says diaspora donors increased support during the Israel-Iran war.
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.
“People give to people. I would miss knowing, all over the diaspora, hundreds of people who became close personal friends.”
Despite antisemitism intensifying across the Western world since 7 October 2023, he said donors have responded with greater rather than lesser commitment.
“Donors who gave to Shaare Zedek, they gave more than usual.”
Shaare Zedek is Jerusalem’s largest hospital, with more than 1000 beds and an annual operating budget of around US $700 million, largely balanced through Israel’s national health insurance system.
Capital projects and equipment renewal depend on philanthropic support from Israel and the diaspora.
The hospital has treated close to 2000 wounded soldiers since the Hamas attacks, with casualties arriving by helicopter directly to its trauma level one centre.
Halevy arrives in Sydney on May 29 for five days, before spending eight days in Melbourne.
In Sydney, Halevy is scheduled to speak at a gathering that will include physicians and nurses from St Vincent’s Hospital, as well as members of the local Jewish medical community.
He will also address a synagogue on Friday night.
In Melbourne, his visit is supported by paediatric pulmonologist Dr Alan Garfield, who has volunteered as Shaare Zedek’s local representative for approximately 35 years.
His lectures will draw on his experience chairing Israel’s national basket-of-services committee, which determines which medical innovations are publicly funded, and his six years as chairman of the Israeli Transplant Authority.
He said comparisons between the Israeli and Australian healthcare systems had proved of broad interest to medical professionals beyond the Jewish community.