Israel airlifts 10 hospitalized kids from Ukraine for care

The staff of the Israeli Embassy in Bucharest worked with Schneider Medical Center in Petah Tikva to evacuate seriously ill children.

By Abigail Klein Leichman, ISRAEL21c

Ambassador of Israel to Romania David Saranga and his embassy staff helped rescue 10 Ukrainian children with serious illnesses and bring them to Israel for treatment.

Schneider Medical Center of Petah Tikva sent medical personnel and a special plane to safely transport the children to Schneider’s hospital for children.

The special 48-hour rescue operation included entering Ukraine, bringing the young patients out of a hospital in Kyiv and closely accompanying them to the waiting plane.

Several of these children, aged three to 18, were too weak to walk on their own. Some of them have cancer, some need dialysis and others are suffering from complex diseases.

“As diplomats representing the state of the Jewish people, we cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of others. It is our moral duty to do everything in our power to alleviate the suffering of the other,” said Saranga, who has actively been aiding refugees since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The embassy staff thanked Romanian authorities for helping to smooth the way for this dangerous lifesaving mission.