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Mayor Bloomberg Awarded Israeli Genesis Prize

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been awarded the first ever Genesis Prize, also known as the Jewish Nobel Prize.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been awarded the first ever Genesis Prize, also known as the Jewish Nobel Prize.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was awarded $1 million as the recipient of the first ever awarded Genesis Prize. The prize was established to “promote commerce between the people in Palestine and the people in Israel,” the billionaire announced on Monday, December 2.

Bloomberg was said to be “perplexed by the award,” according to the Jewish Daily Forward. The award was created last year and is meant to honor an exceptional Jew. “For some reason that nobody can figure out — at least I can’t — I will be honored to receive the first Genesis Prize,” Bloomberg said at a Chanukah Party at the Museum of Jewish Heritage-Living Memorial to the Holocaust, where he received the award on Monday night.

Bloomberg told party attendees that he had already informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his intentions for the award. Bloomberg told the crowd that he intended to use the award money to bolster trade between Israelis and Palestinians. Netanyahu’s office is said to be an official backer of the Genesis Prize program, according to the Forward.

On receiving the prize, Ha’aretz reported that Bloomberg also acknowledged at the party Monday evening that he was unsure as to why he was selected as the winner of this first-ever prize. Bloomberg is a billionaire businessman who is serving out his third and final term as mayor of New York City.

According to the Genesis Prize Foundation website, Bloomberg was selected from over 200 nominees worldwide as a result of his “track record of outstanding public service and his role as one of the world’s greatest philanthropists,” the prize committee is reported to have explained regarding the selection of Bloomberg over the other nominees. The prize is awarded to an “accomplished, internationally renowned professional who is a role model in his or her community and can inspire the younger generation of Jews worldwide,” the website stated.

He will receive the prize in May and, according to the Jewish Week, he has not yet decided which organizations will be aided by the prize. “We have to find some way that everybody can get along in that space or it won’t end nicely for anybody,” Bloomberg said.

The prize was funded by the Russian businessmen who back the Genesis Philanthropy Group. A separate organization created to award the prize is called the Genesis Prize Foundation and is led by Wayne Firestone, the former president and CEO of Hillel International.

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