Israel opened the doors to its fifth medical school and its first in the Galilee region. To mark the historical event, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held the weekly Cabinet meeting at the new campus in the city of Safed (Tzfat).

“I think that this is a festive day for the Galilee. Why? Because we are bringing in a major anchor here. Not just for medicine in the Galilee and in Israel but because we are also providing here an anchor for industry, for the industry of tomorrow in the life sciences, in medicine, in treating autism, in all kinds of other research that will come, for the colleges and for the workforce. The creativity here will go forth from here to overseas,” said Netanyahu.

The new medical school is connected to Bar Ilan University and is called the Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee. The last time a medical school was opened in Israel was in 1974.

Some 124 students are enrolled in the four-year program.

“You young people have chosen ‘brain gain’ as opposed to ‘brain drain,’” President Shimon Peres said at the opening ceremony. “By coming here you have eagerly embraced the noble Zionist ideal of developing the northern part of our country. This is the beginning of unprecedented growth in the Galilee region.”