Friends of Sheba gala raises NIS 10m. for Israel's largest hospital

The Friends of Sheba organization on Sunday held a special gala fundraiser event in honor of Israeli medical innovation at Sheba Medical Center, managing to raise around NIS 10 million.

The event saw a record number of 1,400 guests come to visit Sheba in Tel Hashomer, Israel's largest hospital. Among the guests included some of Israel's top business figures and different ambassadors from countries all over the world.

The most high-profile guest was Mohamed Alabbar, an Emirati businessman who founded Emaar Properties, best known for developing many iconic and profitable ventures in Dubai, such as the Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa – the largest building in the world. He has also helped spearhead partnerships between Sheba and Emirati medical facilities.

The gala event shone a spotlight on some of the many groundbreaking medical achievements made at Sheba over the years, with particular attention brought to the hospital's role as a symbol of coexistence over the past 75 years.

Marking Israel's achievements in organ donation

Of these, one of the most prominent topics was organ transplants. Several people at the gala spoke about their own experiences with organ donation, sharing exciting tales of lung, heart, and kidney transplants.

These advancements come alongside the many achievements made by the Abraham Accords, which saw Israeli and Emirati institutions sign a number of cooperation agreements, including several in the medical field.

This includes deals that resulted in an exchange of organs. Back in 2021, in an incident that made headlines, an Israeli woman donated a kidney, which was flown over to the UAE for a transplant. The plane then promptly returned with another kidney, which was brought to an Israeli patient.

Ultimately, the gala was a successful fundraising event, managing to raise around NIS 10 million in total.