Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke Sunday at an event in New York hosted by the American Friends of Shamir Medical Center, using the occasion to express his appreciation for Israel’s medical institutions during the two-year war on multiple fronts.
“If you really want to know what Israel is all about, go and see the incredible medical institutions. You truly see Israel’s resilience when you walk through those corridors,” President Herzog said. “We have only one nation-state, that is the story of Zionism. To be here in a city where the mayor-elect has declared that Jews have no right to their nation state is precisely why I wanted to make this point and be here.”
President Herzog also emphasized the need to introduce Shamir Medical Center to American Jewry, highlighting the vital role it played on October 7th, in the days that followed, and throughout the subsequent two years of war, particularly under the leadership of its Director General, Professor Osnat Levtzion-Korach.
“Shamir Medical Center was not traditionally on the radar of American Jewry. It sits on the outskirts of the country’s center, toward the south, and today treats well over a million people. It is a vast campus, and under Osnat’s leadership it has become a true gem with an extraordinary staff. We were deeply impressed. It’s a place American Jewry should know and feel connected to,” said President Herzog, who visited the medical center on October 8th.
“It gave us light during a time of darkness. We all remember October 8th; there was total havoc in the country, but under the leadership of Osnat, a truly outstanding, exceptional, and quintessentially Israeli leader, ambulances were arriving every second with wounded people, and she led the place like an army general.”
Professor Levtzion-Korach also spoke about the President’s visit while introducing him at the event.
“On October 8th, just one day after the war began, the President and the First Lady came to our hospital to stand with our teams and our patients, and we walked together among the wounded,” she said. “And later, during the Iranian missile attack, when hundreds of missiles were launched toward Israel, the President and the First Lady still came to visit our underground emergency hospital, where we had transferred 400 patients, arriving despite the real danger.”
“Their presence, their words, and their genuine care deeply moved our staff. The President and the First Lady, Michal Herzog, are truly leaders of the people.”
The event offered a rare and intimate glimpse into the challenges faced by Israel’s medical system during two years of continuous conflict, and into the resilience that has carried the nation forward.
One of the evening’s honorees was Sergeant Major Reuven Ben Parash, from a special forces police unit, who on October 7th ran toward danger with only flip-flops and a handgun. Shot six times while battling a dozen terrorists, he still managed to drive several kilometers under fire while bleeding heavily. Though doctors initially recommended amputation, Shamir Medical Center’s Limb Reconstruction Unit rebuilt his shattered leg millimeter by millimeter. Today, he is taking steps no one believed possible, steps toward becoming a father able to stand on his own legs to hold his child.
In attendance were leaders from across the Jewish and philanthropic world, including representatives from Israel Bonds, the World Jewish Congress, the Helmsley Foundation and the Jewish Federations of North America.