Rahm Emanuel donation for Palestinian doctors triggers fury from Israeli lawmaker

Rozana USA, an international NGO engaged in “health diplomacy,” announced on Monday that Rahm Emanuel and his brothers, Ezekiel and Ari, have donated $550,000 to fund the training of 11 pediatric doctors and 36 pediatric nurses from An-Najah National University Hospital in Nablus (biblical Shechem) at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov).

The $550,000 contribution by Rahm, a potential U.S. presidential contender, and his brothers, will honor their parents, Benjamin and Marsha Emanuel. Their late father was a pediatrician and their mother was a radiology technician and therapist.

“This contribution will ultimately provide much needed, improved care for Palestinian children while leveraging the field of healthcare to build constructive, trusting relations between Israeli and Palestinian medical professionals, bridging the divide,” they said.

Otzma Yehudit Knesset Member Limor Son Har-Melech responded angrily, saying she would prevent the training of Palestinian doctors and nurses in Israel.

“As chair of the Knesset Health Committee, I was the first to bring to the agenda the outrageous phenomenon of training doctors from the P.A. [Palestinian Authority] in Israeli hospitals,” she posted to X on Monday.

“Israeli hospitals, residency beds, senior staff, and the professional expertise of the Israeli health system are not a training factory for the enemy.”

She said she would turn to the Israeli Health Minister and Ichilov hospital’s CEO demanding that they stop the program.