A $3 million initiative built around Israeli actress Gal Gadot’s Genesis Prize will fund 24 Israeli nonprofit organizations providing mental health treatment and trauma care, the Genesis Prize Foundation announced on Wednesday.
The 2026 Genesis Prize laureate directed her $1 million award toward organizations helping Israelis recover from the psychological consequences of the October 7, 2023, attacks and the wars that followed. A matching campaign led by Jewish Funders Network generated another $2m. in private and corporate donations, according to the foundation.
Recipients include Make-A-Wish Israel, United Hatzalah, and CareGivers Israel. The grants will support treatment, trauma counseling, caregiver training, and social work services, including assistance for professionals who have spent the past three years caring for others.
“After three years of war, loss, and extraordinary hardship, I believe recovery starts from within,” Gadot said in a statement.
“I want to dedicate these funds to the people who care for others every day: the doctors, nurses, medics, mental health professionals, and caregivers doing the difficult work of helping people recover and rebuild.”
Gal Gadot and Genesis Prize Foundation Co-Founder and Chairman Stan Polovets. (credit: GENESIS PRIZE FOUNDATION)Initiative focuses on those delivering care, i.e., health professionals, social workers
The initiative’s focus includes the pressures facing those delivering care. Mental health professionals, social workers, educators, and caregivers have faced heavy demand while many have experienced trauma themselves, the foundation said.
The selected organizations operate in northern, southern, and central Israel. Their programs serve mental health professionals, frontline workers, educators, social workers, family caregivers, children and young people, survivors of war and combat trauma, and underrepresented communities.
The foundation and Jewish Funders Network received 150 applications from Israeli nonprofits over two months. Fifty-four organizations advanced through the review process, and 24 were selected.
Applicants were evaluated on their demonstrated impact, organizational capacity, and ability to strengthen Israel’s mental health and caregiver services. Each recipient had to secure a matching contribution from a new donor or an increased gift from an existing donor.
The foundation published a link to the full list of recipients alongside its funding announcement.
The announcement named three recipients but did not provide individual grant amounts or a timetable for distributing the money. It also did not specify how many people the funded programs were expected to reach.
Gadot said the organizations shared a commitment to helping people through periods of vulnerability, even when their work and the communities they served differed.
“Some of these organizations bring different communities together by their very nature. Others are simply there for people at their most vulnerable,” she said. “But they all share the same idea: Caring for one another is how we begin to move forward.”
Stan Polovets, co-founder and chairman of the Genesis Prize Foundation, said the initiative reflected the prize’s philanthropic purpose.
“Awarding the Genesis Prize is not an end in itself; it’s a means of making the world a better place,” he said.
Genesis Prize a ‘Jewish Nobel’ for supporting humanitarian causes
“Gal joins an extraordinary group of past honorees, including Michael Bloomberg, Barbra Streisand, Natan Sharansky, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Kraft, who have used the Genesis Prize to support humanitarian causes they believe in.”
The annual $1m. prize, described by Time magazine as the “Jewish Nobel,” recognizes professional accomplishments, contributions to humanity, and commitment to Jewish values or Israel.
According to the foundation, prize funds and matching donations have supported efforts to combat antisemitism, advance inclusion, and provide humanitarian relief. Other initiatives have supported the rehabilitation of former hostages and their families, as well as strengthening ties between Israel and Latin America.
Jewish Funders Network, which led the matching initiative, connects philanthropists across countries and fields of giving. Its work includes research, partnerships, and opportunities for funders to exchange experience.
“Gal chose to focus on trauma and mental health in Israel,” Polovets said. “Her $1 million Genesis Prize became the foundation for a $3 million initiative supporting organizations helping Israelis heal.”
Gadot connected her decision to direct the award toward care providers with her Jewish heritage and the responsibility to help people who are suffering.
“That value is deeply connected to my Jewish heritage and to our responsibility to care for those who are hurting and help repair what has been broken,” she said.
“By strengthening the people who care for others, we can begin to heal families and communities, restore a sense of connection, and create the possibility of a more peaceful future.”