A wealthy alumnus of Columbia University has chosen to donate $260 million to a university that is, notably, not his alma mater. Indeed, it's in Israel. Bar-Ilan University, situated in a Tel Aviv suburb, made the announcement in a Monday statement, saying it was "the largest bequest ever to Bar-Ilan University, and one of the largest donations ever made to an Israeli university," per the Times of Israel. The statement identified the donor only as a "North American Jew and graduate of Columbia University who served in World War II" and "saw Israel as a safe haven for the Jewish people," per NBC News.
Bar-Ilan President Arie Zaban said the donor, who made the gift in his will, repeatedly visited Israel, and witnessed Bar-Ilan's scientific research firsthand. "He chose Bar-Ilan University as the research institution best able to undertake the great task of expanding science-based technological resilience in Israel," added Zaban, noting the money would fund research in areas including energy, environment, cryptography, bio-convergence, quantum technology, and artificial intelligence.
The donation is meaningful both because benefactors tend to donate to their alma mater and because the recipient in this case—an Israeli university that has criticized US institutions as "breeding grounds for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments"—contrasts so greatly with Columbia, a major site of pro-Palestinian encampment protests. A new encampment appeared on the Columbia campus Friday but was dismantled by Sunday, per NBC. Protesters have been calling for the university to sever all ties to Israel. (More colleges and universities stories.)
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