Shmuel and Anat Harlap have donated $180 million to central Israel’s Rabin Medical Center, the hospital announced on Wednesday, in the largest-ever single gift to an Israeli hospital and likely the largest single gift ever made by Israeli donors.

The donation will go toward the construction of a new cardiological and neurological center at the hospital, which will be dubbed “Hope Tower,” at the Harlaps’ request, according to Rabin Medical Center, also known as Beilinson Hospital, which is located in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva. 

“We are donating this tower and calling it ‘Hope Tower’ because it needs to be a lighthouse of hope, to radiate hope, to give people hope, and to show the entire world that… all of the components — Jews, Muslims, Christians, Haredim, secular people, Circassians — all of the components of Israeli society can stay here and be healed here,” Shmuel Harlap said after the signing of the agreement on Tuesday. “Therefore, we hope that the Hope Tower will symbolize the future of the State of Israel — the biggest and most significant cardiological and neurological center in the Middle East.”

Shmuel Harlap, who has a doctorate in Platonic philosophy, holds the controlling interest in Colmobil, Israel’s largest car importer. (In the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks, he donated 120 cars to the kibbutzim that were targeted.) Harlap was also a significant investor in the Israeli driverless-technology company Mobileye, which was purchased by Intel for $15.3 billion, reportedly earning him $1 billion. 

According to the hospital, Hope Tower, which is now under construction, is scheduled to open in 2027, and it will double the capabilities of the existing cardiological and neurological wards.

“This is a historic moment in which Anat and Dr. Shmuel Harlap have changed the Israeli philanthropic field and set a new standard for dedication to society and public health,” Pinchas Cohen, chairman of the board of Friends of Rabin Medical Center, said in a statement. 

“This donation is not just a milestone in the creation of the future of medicine, it is a symbol of mutual responsibility, of exemplary citizenship, of humanity and of belief in the power of hope,” Cohen said.

The Harlaps’ record-breaking gift — apparently the third largest ever made to an Israei organization — joins a number of nine-figure donations made to Israeli institutions since the Oct. 7 terror attacks. Soon after the attacks, Canadian-Israeli philanthropist Sylvan Adams pledged $100 million to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; last July, an anonymous American donor gifted $260 million to Bar-Ilan University; and earlier this summer, Jon and Mindy Gray donated $125 million to Tel Aviv University’s medical school. (The largest donation ever made to an Israeli institution was a $400 million endowment to Ben-Gurion University in 2016 by Dr. Howard and Lottie Marcus.)

“Such a donation is rare and moving, particularly as this is a ‘blue and white’ donation,” Dr. Eitan Wertheim, director of the medical center, said in a statement, referring to the colors of the Israeli flag to signify a domestic contribution. “This donation, which comes from a feeling of national calling, is expected to change the face of medicine in Israel for many years to come. The Hope Tower will bring together under one roof the best knowledge, technology, research and innovation in the fields of cardiology and neurology, and it will allow us to provide advanced, life-saving treatment to every citizen.”

Yochanan Loker, chairman of the board of Clalit Health Services, which runs the hospital, said the donation will turn Rabin Medical Center into “one of the leading medical centers in the world.” 

Hope Tower is planned as a 15-story building, with 11 floors built above-ground and four below, containing some 300 hospital beds. It will be home to eight wards in the fields of cardiology, neurology, neurocardiology and cardiothoracic surgery. Several of the floors will be fully fortified from attacks, including operating rooms and intensive care units.