American billionaire hedge fund manager and investor John Paulson pledged $250 million to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Oct. 17, marking a historic commitment to Israeli higher education.
“This is a big donation, but it won’t be the last, and we’ll look at other areas where we can have an impact, particularly in higher education,” Paulson told JNS.
Paulson had previously donated $27 million to the university in 2023 and $19 million in January 2026, but his latest contribution marks the largest single donation in the university’s history.
He also identified the integration of haredi Israelis into science and technology fields as a potential area of future support.
Supporting Israel through education
Paulson explained why he believes investing in Israel is imperative, citing a map he had looked at before speaking with JNS.
“I just looked at a map before I came here,” Paulson said. He described supporting Hebrew University as “an indirect way of supporting Israel,” adding, “I believe that education is the most powerful tool to advance society.”
Paulson went on to describe Israel’s population of roughly 10 million, relative to what he estimated as 560 million people in surrounding Muslim countries.
“So Israel is there by itself, fighting for the right to be Jewish, the right to have a democracy, the right to have freedom of religion in a very difficult environment,” he said.
Paulson said Jews worldwide should support Israel, connecting his concerns about the region to his philanthropic efforts.
“At least we can support them,” he said. “They need the support of other Jews around the world to defend ourselves.”
“Clearly my focus has shifted to support Israel and university-level education in Israel,” he added.
Paulson told JNS that he views Israel as one of the world’s leading innovation hubs despite its small size, ranking it third behind the United States and China.
Nearly 10 times the impact
Asked by JNS how he defines the return on a philanthropic investment in education, Paulson said the need for investment at Hebrew University is far greater than at other leading institutions and that he believes his donations can have nearly 10 times the impact.
“I’m getting almost ten times greater impact by investing in Hebrew University than I would a comparable Ivy League school,” he said.
Paulson’s assessment is based on the difference in spending per student between the institutions. According to figures published by the university in January 2026, Hebrew University spends approximately $30,400 annually per student, compared with an average of $319,000 at Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
Paulson has a history of major philanthropic giving to higher education. In 2015, he made a $400 million unrestricted donation to Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the largest single gift in the institution’s history at the time.
The $250 million donation to Hebrew University is also unrestricted. Paulson told JNS that he has full faith in the university’s president, Prof. Tamir Sheafer, to determine where the money can be invested most effectively.
Paulson also described how Israel distinguishes itself in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—which he cited as a major driver of the country’s economic growth.
“And that’s what’s leading to the rapid growth in GDP and GDP per capita in Israel, which now basically exceeds that of almost all Western European countries, including France, Germany, the UK,” he said.
Medicine and AI
Hebrew University announced that Paulson’s donation will support the development of a new Faculty of Engineering, medicine and biomedicine, trauma and post-trauma recovery, and new frameworks for public impact.
Paulson said Israel faces a shortage of doctors and that his donation, together with a gift from the Lavin family, will provide additional resources to the medical school.
The Lavin family, through The Sheba Foundation, announced a $30 million gift to Hebrew University to launch the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Center for Advanced Medical Education.
Paulson said the gifts are expected to help the university’s medical school double the number of doctors it trains.
“I think the entering class is expected to go from 200 to 400. So that will greatly meet the need for doctors,” he said.
Paulson also highlighted Hebrew University’s work in computational medicine, including combining computer science and medicine to advance diagnostics and personalized treatment.
“Medicine is changing with AI and data analytics,” Paulson said. “So today there’s a new building for computational medicine at Hebrew University, where you can get a combined degree in computer science and medicine.”
He said the university is using data analytics and artificial intelligence to improve patient diagnosis and treatment and advance personalized medicine.
“[Hebrew University is] at the forefront of advancing medicine for the benefit of humanity, right at the leading levels of any place in the world,” he said.
Integrating haredim into STEM
“Another area that is very important for me is integrating the Haredi community into the secular society,” Paulson said, turning to potential future philanthropic priorities.
Paulson described the haredi community as highly intelligent but said there is currently a separation between religious and secular studies. He believes the two can coexist.
“The haredi community in the state—in the United States—they do both. They’re, you know, ultra-Orthodox, but they also have careers in law, in engineering, in sciences, in medicine. So I think you can do both, and it’s important to tap this resource to support Israel.”
Paulson said one area he intends to explore is supporting haredi participation in STEM education without requiring individuals to abandon their religious beliefs.
“So one area we’ll look into is, you know, supporting Haredi without giving up their religious belief, but integrating them into the STEM society.”