American Friends of Rabin Medical Center

07/24/2025

AFRMC-Funded Fellowship Spotlight: Dr. Keshet Pardo Heads to Mayo Clinic

American Friends of Rabin Medical Center (AFRMC) is proud to fund and support an incredible professional development opportunity for Dr. Keshet Pardo, a neurologist at Israels' Rabin Medical Center.

Thanks to AFRMC’s funding, in July Dr. Pardo began a year-long fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, focusing on advanced treatments for headaches—one of the most complex and underserved areas in neurology.

Dr. Pardo will gain expertise in the latest pharmacological and procedural therapies, which she will bring back to Israel to help elevate patient care and innovation in the Neurology Department at Rabin Medical Center.

AFRMC is committed to investing in medical excellence and international collaboration—and we’re honored to help make this fellowship possible.

Help us fund more Rabin Medical Exchange Fellows train in the U.S. Make a donation today: www.afrmc.org/donate.

07/08/2025

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2025 ANNUAL NYC GALA!

Join us on November 6, 2025, for the 25th Annual NYC Gala in support of Rabin Medical Center, Israel’s largest and most vital hospital.

This prestigious event will be held at The Plaza Hotel, bringing together over 650 business, civic, political, and philanthropic leaders united to support lifesaving care at Rabin Medical Center.

This year, we are proud to be honoring:

Jay Neveloff Partner at HSF Kramer — Yitzhak Rabin Lifetime Real Estate Leadership Award

Philippe Visser, President of Related Office — Yitzhak Rabin Real Estate & Civic Leadership Award

Gala Co-Chairs (In formation):

- Scott Rechler (RXR)
- Dan Berman (HSF Kramer)
- Bess Freedman (Brown Harris Stevens)
- Gary Jacob (Glenwood Management)
- A. Mitti Liebersohn (Savills)
- Harrison Sitomer (SL Green)
- Stephen Winter (Related Companies)

Special Guests from Rabin Medical Center:

- Dr. Noa Eliakim Raz, Director of the Returning Hostage Ward, Rabin Medical Center
- Israeli soldiers treated at Rabin Medical Center's Rehabilitation Department

This is a unique opportunity to support Rabin Medical Center’s critical work, including their Emergency Rehabilitation Department for war casualties and the Returning Hostage Ward.

To learn more and register for the gala, visit https://afrmc.org/gala-registration

To make a donation to AFRMC, visit afrmc.org/donate.

07/01/2025

Israel’s Rabin Medical Center Transitions Back to Routine After Emergency Operations

Following the ceasefire with Iran, Israel’s Rabin Medical Center has begun moving patients back to regular, above-ground departments after several intense days of emergency protocols.

During the missile threats, Rabin Medical Center swiftly relocated patients and critical services to protected areas, ensuring uninterrupted lifesaving care even under fire.

Dr. Lena Koren, Director of Rabin Medical Center, and her teams demonstrated incredible professionalism and resilience, balancing security needs with their commitment to patient care.

Now, as the security situation stabilizes, Rabin Medical Center is carefully returning to routine operations while remaining prepared for any future developments.

A testament to the adaptability and dedication of Israel’s healthcare system.

Read more: http://bit.ly/4497rfD

Donate for Emergency Medical Care: https://afrmc.org/donate

* * *

06/25/2025

This past Sunday, June 22, hundreds of runners, walkers, supporters, and survivors came together at two inspiring events for one shared mission: the fight against breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer.

The 14th Annual Cheryl Diamond NYC 5K Cancer Schlep was held in the heart of Central Park, New York City. Simultaneously, the 1st Annual Cookie & Stanley Chera a”h and Cheryl Diamond Jersey Shore 5K Cancer Schlep launched at Kassin Beach Club in Loch Arbour, New Jersey, marking the event’s expansion and growing impact.

Together, these events raised critical awareness and support for the BRCA Multidisciplinary Clinic at Rabin Medical Center in Israel, advancing life-saving research and care for individuals and families affected by cancer. Participants came to honor loved ones, celebrate survivors, and show that united, we are stronger in the pursuit of a cure.

View event photos here:

NYC: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCjeLR

JERSEY SHORE: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCj8Ej

Thank you to everyone who made these events a success—runners, sponsors, partners, volunteers, and especially our courageous survivors.

Donate to the BRCA Clinic: Call 212-279-2522 or email afrmc@afrmc.org. You can also visit afrmc.org/donate.

We are all in this together – all looking for the cure.

06/21/2025

Join us TOMORROW, Sunday June 22, for our 5K Cancer Schlep Run/Walk—taking place in Central Park NYC and on the Jersey Shore (Loch Arbour, NJ)!

Run or walk to raise funds for breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer care and research at Israel’s Rabin Medical Center.

📍 NYC: Central Park (Naumburg Bandshell)
📍 NJ: Kassin Beach Club, Loch Arbour
🔗 Register now: 5kschlep.com

06/16/2025

EMERGENCY UPDATE FROM RABIN MEDICAL CENTER

Iranian missiles struck Petach Tikvah, near Rabin Medical Center, resulting in the tragic loss of three civilian lives and injuring 18 others.

In response, Rabin Medical Center has activated its underground emergency hospital, a fully protected facility with 350 operational beds, to ensure the safety and continuity of critical medical care during this crisis.

Hospital Director Lena Koren shared: “We opened the emergency complex with 350 beds in a fully protected and underground area. During the night, we moved the intensive care unit, surgical wards, and internal medicine wards. There is a fully protected emergency room, and we are prepared for any eventuality.”

ER doctors, trauma nurses, and hospital staff are now operating around the clock in emergency mode, under the guidance of the Home Front Command, as part of Operation Rising Lion. Vital services—including delivery suites and dialysis—remain active and uninterrupted in protected areas. New dialysis machines have also been installed underground in anticipation of future patient transfers.

Our thoughts are with the families of those lost, and we wish a full and swift recovery to all the injured. We remain committed to providing lifesaving care under all circumstances, and to protecting the health and safety of our community.

We extend our condolences to the families, wish a swift recovery to the injured, and hope for calmer days ahead.

ISRAEL'S RABIN MEDICAL CENTER IS IN A STATE OF HIGH ALERT, PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT TO ISRAEL'S RABIN MEDICAL CENTER EMERGENCY FUND. Visit

afrmc.org: We support innovative medical treatment and healthcare at Israel’s Rabin Medical Center for one million patients annually. Partnering with the hospital, we promote the best care, research and technology to reach new frontiers in global medicine. We facilitate international medical fello...

06/13/2025

Standing with Israel and Rabin Medical Center

In this time of deep uncertainty and instability, our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues in Israel and at Rabin Medical Center. The hospital remains in a heightened state of readiness, prepared to respond to any casualties resulting from ongoing operations in the region.

As we’ve always said, Rabin Medical Center is—and will always be—on the frontlines of Israel’s defense.

We invite you to stand with us by supporting the critical work being done at Rabin Medical Center. You can help in two ways:

-Make a donation to AFRMC at afrmc.org/donate

-Join us on Sunday, June 22 in NYC or NJ for the 5K Cancer Schlep Run/Walk, supporting Rabin Medical Center’s research and treatment of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer - https://5kschlep.com/

This hospital not only serves as a pillar of Israel’s resilience—it is advancing care that heals cancer patients around the world. Let us come together in solidarity, in strength, and in support of healing.

05/13/2025

Global Connections with Robert Siegel:

UNIVERSITIES & THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

TUESDAY MAY 20 @ 4PM

HOST – Robert Siegel

PANELISTS

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg

University Professor Emeritus and President Emeritus, The George Washington University

Arjun Appadurai

Professor Emeritus, Media, Culture, and Communications, NYU

Michael S. Roth

President, Wesleyan University

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Global Connections with Robert Siegel - UNIVERSITIES & THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

04/22/2025

AFRMC BOARD PRESIDENT A. MITTI LIEBERSOHN VISITS ISRAEL'S RABIN MEDICAL CENTER

AFRMC Board President, A. Mitti Liebersohn, recently visited Rabin Medical Center where he was welcomed by Dr. Felix Benninger, Deputy Director of the Department of Neurology and Head of the Epilepsy Service, who gave him an extended tour of the campus and the hospital's many departments.

From there, Mitti proceeded to the neurosurgical operating rooms, where he observed a particularly moving case: a patient with pharmacoresistant epilepsy undergoing intracranial electrode implantation. These electrodes are placed directly in the brain to record seizures and precisely localize their origin, a critical step in the path toward surgical treatment.

After that, Mitti toured the newly inaugurated catheterization unit on the third floor. This state-of-the-art facility, generously supported by the American Friends of Rabin Medical Center, enables catheter-based procedures for all organs, including the brain and heart, and exemplifies Rabin's commitment to excellence in interventional medicine.

Afterwards, Mitti visited the newly established Rehabilitation Department, where he met the department's director, Dr. Michael Bahar. This department was founded within one month after the tragic events of October 7th, and has since become a hub for multidisciplinary rehabilitation for survivors of war and terror.

Mitti's visit ended with a tour of the Emergency Department and the underground hospital beneath it. This unit played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic and recent rocket attacks, ensuring continuity of care under the most challenging conditions.

It was an incredible opportunity to see firsthand not only the wonderful and heroic work being accomplished at the hospital, but also the rewards of the successful partnership of AFRMC and Rabin Medical Center in creating a space of healing for millions of Israelis.

04/15/2025

This Passover, Freed Israeli Hostage, Agam Berger, Who Was Treated at Rabin Medical Center Reflects on Her Freedom

I was kidnapped by Hamas, taken to Gaza and held hostage for 482 days. Today I am home, healthy and whole in body, soul and spirit. This Passover, I am reflecting on my freedom.

As I was being kidnapped, I had the freedom to choose what to say. I recited, continuously, the same verse that Jews on the threshold of death have said for millennia: Shema Yisrael, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

My fellow scout Liri Albag and I marked Passover together last year. As a surprise, Liri wrote me a makeshift Passover Haggadah, the text that recounts our ancestors’ journey out of slavery. On Passover we heard that people had set us a table in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. Liri listened to her mother’s voice on the airwaves. We cried, then sat down to eat our own “bread of affliction,” the Haggadah’s description of the matzah our fathers ate in Egypt. Our corn flour pitas united us with them.

While I will celebrate this holiday with my family, it won’t yet be full. There are 59 hostages still held in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. This is their second Passover in chains of iron. We can’t allow a third.

The hostages’ stories continue, a painful and unredeemed part of us, dovetailing with a major theme of the Passover holiday: that the Jewish people don’t have a history—they have memory.

The Jewish people are told to remember—“remember what Amalek did to you,” “remember the Sabbath,” “remember the stand at Mount Sinai.” There is now a new, painful command: “Remember Oct. 7.”

This is an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal. For the full Op-Ed, read the article here: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/i-kept-my-freedom-in-hamas-captivity-passover-hostage-israel-gaza-27e85953

04/09/2025

Treating Cancer on a Personal Level: Innovative Cancer Treatment at Rabin Medical Center's Samueli Institute for Innovation & Research

Cancer treatment, all around the world, appears more or less in the same format: biopsy, chemotherapy, radiation, surgery. At times "alternative medicine" is involved, but ultimately medical doctors and researchers have been treating cancer with the same procedures for decades.

At Rabin Medical Center's Samueli Institute for Cancer Research and Innovation, there has been a truly game-changing break from this approach.

Doctors at the Institute are looking not to generic treatment, but to highly personalized treatment. This means using each patient's unique factors: genes, immune system, family history - even their physiology, age and religious beliefs - to help design the best possible treatment for them.

Avner Paz-Zuk, CEO, Samueli Institute at Rabin Medical Center, said, "The mission of the Samueli Institute is to lead scientific research and develop innovative courses of action and treatments, with the goal of creating a substantial impact in the world of cancer medicine."

04/03/2025

"This is an unprecedented situation—one that takes everyday challenges to a whole new level. I never imagined that after 30 years, I would have to treat so many wounded soldiers."

- Dr. Michal Steinman, Director of Nursing at Rabin Medical Center

At a recent conference on innovation and medical technology, Dr. Michal Steinman, who has firsthand been treating both recovering wounded Israeli soldiers as well as returning hostages, spoke about the work and commitment of Rabin Medical Center to treat these recovering patients with the utmost care and respect.

Dr. Steinman also addressed the very critical need for medical staff support in Israel. "(Rabin Medical Center) attracts top nursing talent because it is a high-quality hospital that leads in medical research. However, in Israel, we must find better ways to compensate nurses and medical staff. We need to think outside the box. For example, in Israel, people from other academic backgrounds are allowed to retrain and enter the medical field. This kind of professional retraining can help strengthen the workforce in what I believe is the best profession in the world."

WATCH: Dr. Michal Steinman in AFRMC's video here: bit.ly/4i1lqaW