When the next, inevitable, war with Lebanon breaks, and it, unfortunately, yields Israeli war casualties, the wounded first line of medical treatment is Ziv Medical Center, established in 1910 in the Israeli spiritual town, Zefat.
Since it was opened, Ziv Medical Center has been serving the diverse population of northern Israel in the Galilee and the Golan Heights. And nowadays, it is doing what, if the shoe was on the other foot, what Syria would not do. The hospital is serving wounded and sick, victims of the ongoing war in Syria, who arrive at the Syrian border with Israel seeking merciful help.
During the July 2006 34-day Second Lebanon War, also known as the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War, Ziv Medical Center served as Israel’s front line hospital. Sadly the hospital was not well prepared for the job at hand.
Recently, Dr. Salman Zarka was nominated Ziv Medical Center Director General. Since then, should a war with Hezbollah is unleashed, Dr. Zarka has been alerting the country to the medical center, under his command, crucial position.
The first month of January 2018 was a very busy month for Dr. Zarka, who happened to be the first Israeli-Druze physician to manage an Israeli medical center. Mr. Reuven Rivlin, Israel’s president received at the President's House, in Jerusalem, the Ziv Medical Center team. It was Dr. Zarka, accompanied by Professor Alexander M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Professor Lerner, considered one of the foremost authorities in the field of severe war injuries treatment.
Additionally, Israeli Consuls, serving in North America, visited wounded Syrians, who crossed the border to Israel, asking for life-saving medical treatment and are now hospitalized at Ziv. The visiting consuls were, Dani Dayan, Consul General of Israel in New York; Sam Grundwerg, Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles; Galit Baram, Consul General of Israel in Toronto, Canada; Gilad Katz, Consul General of Israel in Houston.
In order to be well prepared for a war that will break in the north, Ziv Medical Center must be operationally fully ready and that requires funds that are rather inadequate. Friends of Ziv Medical Center, USA is your contact point should you wish to help getting Ziv Medical Center readiness in order.
Rabbi Moshe Pitchon (friends@friendszivmedicalcenter.org) is the President of the Board of ‘Friends Ziv Medical Center’, Miami, Florida, USA (friendszivmedicalcenter.org).