President Isaac Herzog spoke on Friday with doctors at Israel’s Kochav Meir (“Shining Star”) Field Hospital which was built in Ukraine by the Sheba Medical Center and representatives of the Israeli healthcare system.
This is the first time that the State of Israel has built an entirely civilian field hospital beyond its borders. The hospital was named in memory of Israel’s fourth prime minister, Ukrainian-born Golda Meir.
The mission was launched to provide medical assistance to residents and refugees from the war in Ukraine, in collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Sheba Medical Center, the Schusterman Family Foundation, the Joint Distribution Committee, and other donors.
The mission, headed by Dr. Dudu Dagan, comprises 66 doctors, nurses, laboratory workers, pharmacists, and managers. To date, the field hospital has treated over 350 wounded or sick.
President Herzog thanked the medical team and said: “You are the beautiful Israel at its finest. You and many dozens of amazing Israeli women and men who are on Ukrainian soil and fulfilling such a lofty mission are performing the incredible mitzvah, that whoever saves a single life, it is as if he saved a whole world. You and all your partners are extending a hand to a nation that finds itself in a terrible tragedy, a nation wounded and battered by a humanitarian catastrophe, and ordinary people, human beings, God’s creations, are under a difficult assault, and I look at you and know that you are doing the best you can.”
He added, “You fill us with pride, far away from home under sirens and alerts, and I thank you on behalf of the whole State of Israel. I wish you all Shabbat Shalom and every success. Look after yourselves, and keep fulfilling your mission with pride and honor for the whole people of Israel and the whole Jewish people. Thank you very much.”
Mission chairman Dr. Dudu Dagan said: “We are concluding the first week of activities at the field hospital. The many refugees we have treated to date proved to us that, without a doubt, our place is here, and that we have a duty to continue extending a hand to whoever needs us. As Shabbat comes in, I bless the members of the Israeli mission, who are working night and day with humanity, sensitivity, and professionalism. You are the beautiful face of Israel.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)