Dr. Miriam & Sheldon Adelson donate $5 million to Ariel University’s School of Medicine and pledge an additional $20 million pending approval of the university’s future academic programs.

Miriam Adelson, “We believe in university’s ability to serve as a center of excellence.”

Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson have pledged $25 million to Ariel University — the biggest donation given to the school since its inception.

Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson – Photo: Reuters

Some $5 million have been appropriated for the immediate development of the university’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The additional $20 million will be allotted as approvals are received for the development of future academic programs in medical science.

Ariel University has some 14,000 students, 1,200 of whom are enrolled in its medical school, which includes physical therapy, speech therapy, nursing, nutrition, and health administration programs.

Ariel University launched its pre-med program in 2013, as part of Israel’s national effort to train more doctors. The pre-med program constitutes the first three years of medical school.

The academic faculty at the Ariel University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in involved in research and applied research in various fields, including medicine, pharmacology and genetics, through a number of the school’s research centers.

The medical school’s development includes the foundation of a regional medical center, which would offer the area’s Jewish and Arab residents emergency medical care as well as general health care.

The school also plans to develop emergency medicine, occupational therapy and medicinal chemistry programs, as well as several future medical science research ventures, both clinical and applied.

Dr. Miriam Adelson, a leading internist who heads substance abuse centers, said that “as a doctor myself, and as a person who is well acquainted with Israel’s superb medical services, I am aware of the great shortage of doctors in Israel. An additional school of medicine is a vital and urgent need, and Ariel University, which proved excellent scientific skills in a short period of time, is the right place for this important development.

“As a first step, we donated $5 million to the pre-med program, and we pledged that when Ariel [University] receives the necessary approval to launch a medical sciences program, we will donate an additional $20 million.”

“this contribution stems from a belief in Ariel University’s ability of to serve as a center of academic excellence in the heart of Israel, and to serve as a bridge between the various parts of the nation, and between us and the Arabs in Samaria,” she said.

“We also wanted to strengthen the settlers in Judea and Samaria, and express appreciation and gratitude for their pioneering spirit and their everyday Zionism. This, against the backdrop of the ongoing campaign against Israel in general and the settlement enterprise in particular, and the boycott calls being sounded against them from radical parts of the world.”

Addressing the abduction of Israeli teens Gil-ad Shaer, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel, Miriam Adelson said, “Unfortunately, the horrific abduction of these three teens has acquainted us with the families’ steadfast nobility, and the example they have set for us all.

“The strength that these families, who are the salt of the earth, have exhibited has affected us as well, and like everyone else in Israel, we pray for the boys’ safe return home.

“Faced with the terror and murderous violence advocated by the regimes around Israel, the medical studies at Ariel University underscore humanity, the desire for life and the value of human life wherever they are — especially in the midst of violent madness that sees death as a sacred goal.”

Sheldon Adelson said, “All my years in business have taught me that when a crack opens up in one place you don’t just need to seal it, you need to strengthen the entire wall, and sometimes the entire building.

“The numerous attacks on Judea and Samaria settlement are connected to the long struggle waged against the State of Israel since before its inception. The donation to Ariel University is about building a Zionist wall in place of the crack.”

Adelson added that he hoped that the city of Ariel would grow and flourish as a result of the donation to the university, which he called a donation for the health and welfare of all Israelis.

The Adelsons are the world’s major benefactors of Jewish causes in Israel and overseas. They are the main benefactors of Birthright Israel, to which they have donated $233 million, and they sponsor various educational programs promoted by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, as well as a medical research foundation supporting the work of hundreds of doctors in Israel and worldwide.

The Adelsons recently donated $20 million for the establishment of the Adelson School of Entrepreneurship at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, which is scheduled to open its doors in the next academic year.

Sheldon Adelson is considered one of the world’s top entrepreneurs in the field of integrated tourist sites, earning him the title of the world’s most prominent developer.

The Adelson family owns the company that is the primary shareholder in Israel Hayom.