Irving Moskowitz

Irving Moskowitz (January 11, 1928 – June 16, 2016) was an American physician, businessman and philanthropist. His philanthropy, in part, sought to create a Jewish majority in Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

Biography

Irving Moskowitz was the ninth of thirteen children born to Jewish immigrants from Poland. 120 of his relatives died in the Holocaust. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and received a medical degree from the University of Wisconsin. He then moved to California where he started his medical practice, and later building and managing hospitals. He started the foundation in 1968. At the time of his death Moskowitz resided in Miami Beach, Florida.

Moskowitz was married to Cherna with whom he had 8 children and over 40 grandchildren. Among his notable Zionist activities was establishing a foundation to help Shinlung immigration to Israel. The family also established the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism in 2008.

He built a business running hospitals and legal gambling in California. He was the founder of the Moskowitz Foundation, created "to help people in need regardless of race, creed, politics or religion." The foundation raises funds for Jewish housing projects in East Jerusalem through its charity bingo hall in Hawaiian Gardens, California. The funding is channeled through two settler organizations El'ad and Ateret Cohanim that work to create a Jewish majority in Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

Moskowitz died on June 16, 2016 at the age of 88.

Housing projects

In 2007, Moskowitz worked toward resettling Jews in Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem vis a vis initiating plans to build 122 apartments on the site of the Shepherd Hotel in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The plan was downsized in 2009. Final approval was given for 20 apartments on March 23, 2010, hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Barack Obama at the White House. The historic Shepherd Hotel was torn down to make room for the housing units. A three-story parking garage and an access road was also planned for the site.

Philanthropy

Moskowitz was the founder and chair of the Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation, which donated $1.5 million to the City of Hawaiian Gardens for the construction of the Fedde Middle School Sports Complex, the first state-of-the-art sports facility in the city. He donated to Karl Rove's American Crossroads, the Center for Security Policy and the Western Center for Journalism. The Irving Moskowitz Foundation donated $100,000 on March 17, 2011, to the American Red Cross for the relief efforts in wake of the tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011. On June 26, 2013, The Irving Moskowitz Foundation donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross for Oklahoma relief efforts. On November 21, 2013, the Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation presented a check for $100,000 to the American Red Cross Long Beach Chapter to aid the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.