"I had a great life outside of Israel, but I have an even better life inside Israel. Even in all the wars and the sirens and all this stuff, it's the best place on earth to live a Jewish life. So… why am I here throughout the war and the rest of it? Because I'm Israeli, right? Because I'm like you and I'm like everybody else here." Sylvan Adams, among the most prominent philanthropists active in Israel today, makes this statement in a Tel Aviv café, where we are sitting on the morning that the city received a direct hit. During the previous war with Iran, Adams made headlines when he made a huge $100 million donation to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, which was severely damaged by a missile last year, and an identical donation to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
"You introduced me as being Israeli-Canadian, but I will tell you, first of all, that I would say that my first and foremost identity is being Jewish." Adams says. "And that's the reason that I made aliyah. My wife and I made aliyah together."
Since immigrating to Israel from Canada in 2017, Adams, who made his fortune in real estate and is worth $2.8 billion according to "Forbes" magazine, has chosen to direct a significant part of his resources to initiatives that will put Israel at the center of the international stage. Adams' strategy focuses on using "soft power" through positive sports and culture initiatives that connect Israel to the global arena.
Speaking to "Globes," he discusses what made him leave a comfortable life behind and remain in the Tel Aviv firing line during wartime, why he chose to bet $200 million on a hemorrhaging Negev, and how he plans to beat the "empty suits" of global politics and local bureaucracy to bring a million new immigrants here.
Billionaire in the line of fire
Adams' roots in Israel and the Zionist enterprise stem from an unusual family history. His father, Marcel Adams, escaped from Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and managed to reach Israel by ship in 1943. Later, Marcel fought in Israel’s War of Independence, then worked for the Jewish Agency in France, where he helped prepare new immigrants for aliyah. Later, he moved to Canada, where he founded real estate company Iberville Developments, which over the years has become one of the industry’s most prominent companies.
Sylvan joined the family business in 1995, and at age of 36 was appointed CEO. Under his leadership, the company has continued to expand and consolidate its position in the North American real estate market, with a broad portfolio of properties. Marcel Adams passed away in 2020, at the age of 100. His son became one of the most prominent donors in Israel. About a year ago, "Time" magazine selected Sylvan Adams as one of the 100 most influential people in philanthropy for 2025. The TIME100 Philanthropy list boasts personages whose philanthropic activities make an indisputable mark around the world, such as Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, and Oprah Winfrey.
And while many of Israel’s wealthy began considering their options after October 7, Adams has chosen to stay in the eye of the storm. On that grim morning, however, Adams was not in Israel. "I'm a competitive amateur cyclist and I was competing at the World Championships in England and I had a race literally in the morning of October the 7th. On that morning, I was concentrating on my race and my wife tells me, she says, ‘There are rockets falling all over Israel.’ And I said, ‘Listen, don't bother me, I have a race’ - I'm embarrassed to say this but I was focusing on my competition and I said, ‘Look, we have Iron Dome.’ And only that afternoon did I realize what had taken place.
"The feelings that I had at that time... many Israelis were feeling the same, a sense of shock, a sense of vulnerability, believing that maybe this is the end for us, for Israel. Really a sense of utter shock. And it took me weeks until I saw us fighting back and beginning to start winning again because we had let our guard down so catastrophically and so tragically. And I have to say my faith in the IDF, in our leaders was shaken.
"But then to watch our people fight back, to watch the personal charity of… the citizens of Israel. Amazing demonstrations of courage and generosity and community."
Indicting those who remain silent
The conversation shifts from Adams' personal experience to the global arena. As he sees it, the waves of hatred that swept Western cities one day after the massacre are part of a well-oiled machine. To his mind, these attacks were planned and not spontaneous outbursts.
Immediately after October 7, we saw an increase in anti-Semitism and attacks on Jews. What is the motivation?
"So, there's a very simple explanation to this. There is a nefarious movement. It is called the Muslim Brotherhood and they are led financed and sponsored by principally the Qataris, the Emir of Qatar. They started 25 years ago when they began this anti-Semitic, anti-Israel channel called Al Jazeera. I encourage everyone listening to this podcast to force themselves to flick on Al Jazeera and see the venom that is spewed - and this is the English version. It's much worse in the Arabic version."
How do you explain the fact that, after all we have seen, many wealthy Jews are still pouring huge amounts of money into elite universities in the United States?
"I would start with the following: If we don't look after ourselves, nobody's going look after us. So, if you're giving your money to Harvard University - and Harvard is the richest endowment in the entire world - they don't need your money, okay? They just don't need your money. And I would have said that before October the 7th.
"I would have said that before we saw infiltration of Ivy League campuses by the nefarious Qataris with the tens and tens of billions of dollars that they've poured into campuses in the United States. So, I would have said that even beforehand."
Discussing the silence of Jewish business leaders, Adams draws a chilling historical parallel that leaves the room uneasy. He identifies a recurring pattern of behavior, one that places personal comfort above the struggle over identity.
You know many senior businesspersons all over the world. Why don’t more rich Jews speak out against hatred of Jews and Israel? Are they worried about getting hurt financially?
"I think, if you look back to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, I think there was a similar phenomenon of wealthy, secular Jews living in Berlin, enjoying the good life, the high society life, and not wanting to affect their status within the society… I think we should be proud of who we are. If you look at every other group - again, coming back to American society - the Italians are proud to be Italian, the Greeks are proud to be Greek, the Irish, the blacks, everybody's proud of their community, only the Jews."
Between Super Bowl and Senate
In February 2026, an advertisement sponsored by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS), led by billionaire Robert Kraft, aired during the Super Bowl. The ad depicted a puny Jewish boy walking down a school hallway, subjected to antisemitic slurs until another student comes to his defense. While it highlighted the rise in antisemitism, the ad sparked controversy within the American Jewish community. Critics argued that it portrayed Jews as weak and vulnerable, reliant on others for protection, and called instead for a narrative centered on strength and confidence.
What do you think of the message in this commercial?
Adams: "I commend Robert Kraft, he's a supporter of the Jewish people and of the state of Israel… But the messaging in the ad really bothered me because I think we want to show that we're strong, that we contribute, that we're there for others, and that it's good to be with us. So, I would say that we need to show the rest of the world that anti-Semitism is not a Jewish problem. In the case of the Super Bowl, it's an American problem."
Adams turns his attention to Capitol Hill, where he notes a disturbing trend in which veteran politicians, once pillars of support for Israel, are beginning to make their electoral calculations at the expense of their closest ally.
You know wealthy and influential Jews in the United States, many of whom rarely talk about Israel today. For example, Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, used to speak in praise of Israel and now he doesn't dare mention it. Is he afraid of losing the primaries?
"You know the bad news for Chuck Schumer? He's going to get primaried anyway, right? Exactly. So, you know, he will have gone against his own values and his own people. Better to go down with your integrity intact. And he'll lose anyway."
"He's an empty suit"
Adams looks at the dramatic changes that have taken place in Canada, his country of origin, and sees it as having lost its moral compass. For him, the fight against anti-Semitism is no longer just a matter of education, but also requires advanced technological tools and accurate identification of the political forces shaping the new reality.
The Canadian government, headed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, has been very cold to Israel and warm toward China. At the same time, many violent anti-Semitic incidents have taken place there. Why isn't the government doing anything?
"They [Jews in Canada] are feeling alienated and isolated. And unlike in the US where Jews still vote for the left-wing Democratic party, in Canada that's over. It was Trudeau, Carney's predecessor, who basically alienated the Jewish community… We're not a two-party system like in the United States, so what happens is there are two parties on the left, Carney's Liberal Party and there's a more extreme left-wing party called the NDP. And the reason Carney won the last election is because the NDP disappeared. And it was because Trump started to mock Canada. Today, Canadians have an absolute visceral hatred of Trump. So, Carney is playing that game. So, when you say he's warming to China, he's playing a game to show Canadians that he's looking out for them, because he's supposedly the banker, the economist, who's looking out for their economic interests. But in fact, I look at him and I say he’s just an empty suit, who has no moral backbone. And would I vote for such a person who has no moral backbone? The answer would be ‘No.’"
The way Adams reads the political map, it is precisely the conservative leadership, which was supposed to be Israel's natural ally, that has been harmed by the dynamic created by President Trump with his neighbor to the north.
He maintains that the Conservative candidate, Pierre Polievre, "…was a disciple of Stephen Harper. And he has genuine warmth. I've spoken to Polievre myself. He traveled in his late teens, as an 18-19-year-old, he traveled all throughout the Middle East. He backpacked all through Israel. He knows Israel very well. He's been here five, six times. We have to bring him. So, I've invited him… And he's genuinely warm to Israel. He was so far ahead in the polls. Had Trump not mocked Canada with calling Carney governor of the 51st state, had he not done those things, I think we would have had a better friend as leader of Canada."
$200 million for the Negev
Returning to the issue of Israel’s southern front, Adams is not content with expressions of solidarity alone. He is investing significant resources in building the infrastructure needed to restore trust in Israel’s periphery, while outlining an ambitious plan to reshape the country through new waves of immigration.
What is your philanthropic focus in Israel?
"Within Israel, I've had two major themes. One is to support important Israeli institutions, to strengthen our institutions and provide services to our citizens. And also, I was also known, prior to October the 7th, for putting on very large-scale events to showcase Israel… showing a different side of us rather than talking about war and strife."
One of your major donations that made headlines was a massive $100 million to Soroka Hospital. Why did you make this donation?
"Before I tell you about Soroka, I'm going to tell you about something I did in the weeks following October the 7th, which was to give a like donation to Ben-Gurion University in Beersheva. I give $100 million to Ben-Gurion and I've given $100 million to Soroka. So, I've invested $200 million in the South… And I thought it was also important to tell both our friends and our enemies all around the world that we are here to stay.
"In the aftermath of the 12-day war, when Soroka was hit by a ballistic missile, I went there. I donated a hundred million dollars not only to rebuild that particular building but to inject the money generally… and it's a three-way partnership between the government of Israel, Clalit - the owner of the hospital - and myself. So, $300 million, a billion shekels… that will go to make Soroka the most modern, best hospital in the entire country. And this is thematic with another announcement I made as president of the World Jewish Congress, which was an ambitious goal to bring a million new olim to Israel."
Regarding the effort to bring in so many immigrants, the reality on the ground actually indicates increased emigration from Israel. Given that, how can you think of bringing a million people to Israel?
"In the early 90s, after the fall of the former Soviet Union, we had a million olim come to Israel, and I like to say that they saved the country. They did. Why? Because they maintained the demographic balance that we have in the country. Now here, this would be the first mass aliyah from Western countries. And so, we have a push factor. The antisemitism is actually a push factor making Jews question their futures in the diaspora. But at the same time, we need to make Israel attractive enough. We need to make it affordable enough. We need to create economic conditions. Again, those were the themes behind my two large investments in Israel's south. They tie together not only as an answer to our enemies, but also as an opportunity to reinvigorate the country by bringing olim to the south."
Adams wants Musk
When Adams speaks about Israel’s political and economic structure, he sounds less like a donor and more like a CEO. He identifies the system’s weak points and proposes a radical solution inspired by billionaire Elon Musk.
As someone who understands money, who lives here and talks to decision makers, what do you tell them that needs to be improved here? What is most important in making life easier for Israelis?
"We could use Elon Musk coming over here and doing a DOGE on our Israeli bureaucracy, which is extremely thick and shocking to people from the outside. Everybody knows about this, but it's very hard to change. And of course, the political system which creates the smallest parties, the ultra-religious parties, they have a kind of a chokehold over the taxpayer and they come from a sector with a veto power that is proportionally less productive... and yet they're drawing a disproportionate amount of the state's budget."
Recently, you dealt with another incident. The cycling team that you sponsored, Israel Premier Tech, removed the word "Israel" from its logo, and you stopped supporting it.
"It's Israel's first professional team in any sport to compete at the highest level of its sport. It's a cycling team, a professional cycling team, but we compete in the Tour de France at the highest level of our sport. We faced an organized campaign… and there were thousands of thousands of protesters - they disrupted the race, the race wasn't able to be completed, and we got the blame. So, the prime minister of Spain was very foul about the whole the whole affair and telling the race organizers to kick us out. But they had no right to kick us out. We had earned our right to be to be in this highest league. And no, it was a very difficult it was a very difficult organized campaign… It wasn't safe for the riders to complete the race. And this was the first time that this has ever happened at a bike race."
And then they removed the name Israel and you revoked the sponsorship?
"As a sponsor of the team, if I'm going to put money in, it's going to carry my brand, which is Israel."
Despite the upheaval, when we talk about the country's economic future, Adams continues to be an enthusiastic optimist. For him, the crisis is just one step on the road to growth. Adams argues that the economy will grow nicely at the end of the war, and says "the economy is already booming… this place is amazing."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 13, 2026.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.