Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday visited the national headquarters and command center of United Hatzalah of Israel in Jerusalem.
During the visit, President Herzog was accompanied by United Hatzalah President and Founder Eli Beer, as he was given a comprehensive briefing on the organization's emergency operations, technological capabilities, and operational tools used by its teams in the field. The President concluded his visit by inaugurating a new emergency vehicle dedicated to the memory of Ronit Elimelech, a United Hatzalah volunteer who was killed in an Iranian missile attack on Beit Shemesh last week.
"We are here visiting the United Hatzalah command center," Herzog said during the visit. "United Hatzalah is one of the first emergency response organizations to arrive on the scene. From here we have seen the enormous scope of the response provided by the medics. The moment there are missile launches, you see people running to shelters, people being injured, and of course there are also disaster scenes and other emergencies that arise."
"But it is important for me to say and to convey a message to the Israeli public: Hezbollah and Iran, in their strategy, have decided to try and exasperate the Israeli public. What they are doing is launching missiles, especially at night, every hour or even more frequently, so that we all have to run to our safe rooms. So first of all, the answer is yes, we will run to our safe rooms, and we will follow all of the Home Front Command's instructions. But the important thing is that we understand: they are trying to break our spirit, they are trying to undermine our resolve - and they are simply mistaken.
"We are a very strong people, with remarkable resilience, and when I see the volunteers here at United Hatzalah, from all across the country, arriving at every single site, I know just how strong our resilience is. So please, people of Israel, be strong and courageous. We will overcome. We will rise like lions."
Herzog added, "When you come to United Hatzalah, it is very evident how prominent members of the Haredi community are among the volunteers. That is truly important. I also see here Israeli Arab citizens from different areas, including from eastern Jerusalem. This sends a powerful message. It reflects a genuine and important social mosaic here in Israel."
"In general, I have great faith in the silent majority of Israelis. They want to continue living together without tearing one another apart. We are all sitting together in shelters, and these missiles do not distinguish between us. They do not differentiate among us. They come to kill, to destroy, and to harm all of us who are here. We must emerge from this war far more united and cohesive. I am under no illusions. This is also an election year, and we all see what is happening on social media. Still, I believe that the silent majority does not think that way. The silent majority wants to see exactly what is happening here."
