The Cabinet this morning unanimously decided that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will chair an inter-ministerial committee that will monitor and oversee the establishment of Israel 's fifth medical school, in Safed, which has been defined as a national priority project.  Other members of the committee are: Negev and Galilee Development Minister Silvan Shalom, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, Education Minister Gideon Saar, Minorities Affairs Minister Avishay Braverman and Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said that, "I view the establishment of a medical school in Safed as a giant lever for the development of the Galilee, as well as for the education and medical systems in the north.  This project is of national importance and we have decided to carry it out."

Professor Moshe Kaveh, President of Bar-Ilan University, which was chosen to establish and operate the medical school, said that studies in Safed are expected to begin in October 2011 and added that cooperation agreements have already been reached between the designated medical faculty and the hospitals in the north.  Prof. Kaveh noted that, in the first stage, approximately 50 scientists' and doctors' families are expected to move to the Galilee, and the medical school is expected to encourage Israeli and Jewish scientists and medical personnel abroad to return and/or immigrate to Israel .