April 5, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
By HAIM WATZMAN
Hebrew University of Jerusalem has announced that it is seeking a total of $1-billion in a capital campaign, after already raising $600-million toward that goal.
The announcement came as the university announced fund-raising figures for a five-year drive started in 1997.
The $600-million figure is thought to be the most an Israeli institution has ever raised from private sources.
University officials attributed the campaign’s success in large part to the efforts of the institution’s “friends of” organizations — fund-raising groups that seek donations for the university from donors in Europe, the United States, and other countries.
Moshe Arad, vice president for external relations at Hebrew University, said that nearly half of the contributions to the current campaign have come from donors who have not previously made gifts to the university.
Funds from the campaign will be used to improve academic programs and campus facilities.
Hebrew University’s success comes as other Israeli institutions of higher education are facing fund-raising troubles. Some officials of other universities in Israel say privately that pledges made by donors in the United States and elsewhere have not been paid. University fund-raising officials attribute the phenomenon to the recent downturn in the high-tech industry and to the turbulent stock market in the United States.
