New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be the first recipient of the $1 million Genesis Prize, which is being called the “Jewish Nobel Prize” and will be presented by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem in May.
The Genesis Prize Foundation was established in 2012 by the Genesis Philanthropy Group, a consortium of mega-wealthy philanthropist-businessmen from the former Soviet Union, including Mikhail M. Fridman, Pyotr Aven and German Khan, the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel, and the Jewish Agency.
The prize, which will be given out annually, is awarded to an accomplished, internationally renowned professional from anywhere in the world who is a role model in his or her community and who can inspire the younger generation of Jews worldwide, according to the foundation’s website.
Bloomberg was chosen from more than 200 nominees world-wide because of his “track record of outstanding public service and his role as one of the world’s greatest philanthropists,” according to the prize committee, the New York Times reported Sunday.
The Prize committee, chaired by Israeli Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, also includes Elie Wiesel and two retired Israeli Supreme Court justices.