Shalom and Assalamu Aleikum,

At a time when Israel is facing incredible difficulties due to it having to fight on both fronts, both in the north (due to a Hizbollah terrorist attack) and in the south (in Gaza), I would like to speak about the Hadassa Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem. The Hadassa hospital excellently portrays Israel's commitment to peace and the importance it gives to people's lives, regardless of who they are and what they believe.

All through the First and Second Intifadas, the Hadassa hospital has unconditionally treated both Israelis and Palestinians. It has even treated Palestinian terrorists caught before committing a suicide bombing, or those Palestinians who were injured after one of Israel's targeted assassinations. Hadassa does not, and has never differentiated among people based on who they are. In the hospital, hundreds of Arabs (Palestinian and others) receive the best treatment possible in the Middle East. Muslims from Zanzibar and other African countries flock to Hadassa to be treated by Israeli doctors.

If you visit the children's ward, where there are currently 8 beds for children ages 1-18, you'll see an amazing thing. On one bed lays a small baby from Gaza who was severely injured in one of Israel's targeted assassinations. His entire treatment is being paid by the Israeli Defense Force and the doctors are hopeful about his recovery. On another bed, a Jordanian girl is lying, surrounded by members of her family. The family is one of Jordan's wealthiest families, and knowing the committed and unconditional treatment the girl would be getting in Israel, preferred it over the Jordanian hospitals in Amman.

For a country which is always in some kind of war with its neighboring countries, it is not easy to always be forgiving. Imagine how people feel when a terrorist arrives at the hospital, needing medical treatment, just after murdering tens of Israeli civilians. But Hadassa has proven again and again that is an oasis of peace, where everyone is treated equally. What happens between its walls is completely detached from what happens outside of them. Many Palestinians from East Jerusalem, from the West bank and Gaza are also regularly admitted to Hadassa where they receive committed treatment. When Nonie Darwish's brother was to be taken to a hospital, someone asked, "Where should we take him? To Cairo or to Hadassa?" Another member of the family answered, "If you want him to live, take him to Hadassa." Hadassa saved his lives, just as it saves the lives of many other Palestinians and Arabs. Israel has a level of commitment to saving life which is unknown all over the Middle East where different radical fractions of Islam are murdering innocent civilians on a daily basis.

For Israel, human life is the highest value, and this is proven again and again in prisoner swaps where Israel gives hundreds of prisoners, often with blood on their hands, in exchange for one or two Israelis, usually dead. The Jewish tradition says that if you save one life, it's as if you have saved a world in its entirety. Israel has again and again proven that it represents life, even at the most difficult of times when it's under attack.

At this hard time, I am sending strength to Israel and to Israelis who are being bombarded by Hizbollah, a terrorist organization operating from within a sovereign country.