Mayor Michael Bloomberg will visit Israel on Oct. 23 to dedicate a Magen David Adom facility in Jerusalem named after his father.
The trip will be entirely at the expense of the billionaire mayor, who will fly on his personal jet and cover all costs, ranging from transportation to meals for security.
The new facility is called the William H. Bloomberg Jerusalem MDA Station. American Friends of Magen David Adom said Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and other key government ministers, as well as Mayor Nir Barkat of Jerusalem have been invited to the event.
The MDA facility was first constructed in 1963 and renovated and expanded in 1970. "When Mayor Bloomberg and American Friends of Magen David Adom joined together to undertake the dramatic reconstruction and modernization of the MDA Jerusalem Station the facility was obsolete and insufficient to serve the city’s growing needs," said AFMDA in a statement.
Bloomberg has previously sponsored a mother and child facility at Hadassah Hospital at Ein Kerem in honor of his mother, Charlotte, in Jerusalem in 2007. The mayor’s father, William died in 1963, and his mother died in June at 102.
The mayor has made six trips to Israel during his decade in office as well as one after his election but before taking office and another as a candidate.
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