Israel Providing Treatment for Kurdish Children With Heart Conditions

Israel has for years been providing cardiac treatment for children of Iraqi Kurds, a fact highlighted on Monday by Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi following threats by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Israel’s support for the Kurds.

Hanegbi visited Holon’s Wolfson Medical Center — the base for the Save a Child’s Heart program that performs congenital heart surgery on needy children from abroad.

The minister said he was impressed by the construction work at the children’s hospital and the work being carried out by the International Center for Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at Wolfson.

Construction on the children’s hospital, funded by Hanegbi’s ministry, will significantly improve conditions for the children of Holon, Bat Yam, south Tel Aviv and Jaffa, he said. It will also enable the Save a Child’s Heart organization to save many other children from around the world, he added.

To date, the ministry has funded the life-saving treatment of about 500 children with heart diseases from Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Jordan.

“Israel is committed to the sanctity of human life wherever it is, and its aspiration to shape a better Middle East that promotes solidarity, concern for others and partnership across borders is clearly expressed in the Wolfson project,” said Hanegbi.

Over the years, doctors and nurses volunteering for Save a Child’s Heart have treated more than 4,400 children from Africa, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. They have also trained more than 100 medical workers in those countries, allowing them to save many other children.