New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a Hanukkah party Monday night that he will use the $1 million Genesis Prize to “promote commerce between the people in Palestine and the people in Israel,” the Daily Forward reported.
It is not yet known which organizations will be assisted by the prize money. Bloomberg made the announcement at the party at the Museum of Jewish Heritage-Living Memorial to the Holocaust.
In his third and final term as New York mayor, Bloomberg was chosen from among more than 200 nominees worldwide 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 foundation was established last year by the Genesis Philanthropy Group, a consortium of mega-wealthy philanthropist-businessmen from the former Soviet Union including Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven and German Khan; the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel; and the Jewish Agency for Israel.