Prime Minister Visits Soldiers Hospitalized in Sheba

Prime Minister Netanyahu: "The people on that ship were not people of peace, you are heroes and it is due to your actions and bravery that the lives of your comrades were saved."

Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu; Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak; Military Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi; Deputy Health Minister, Yaakov Litzman; and Chaver Knesset, Tzippi Livni, paid a visit to wounded IDF soldiers hospitalized at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center.

During the visits, which were closed to the media, the country's leaders spoke at length with the soldiers and their families, listened to details regarding the injuries and were impressed by the soldiers and how they performed at sea.

Throughout the visit, the Prime Minister praised the soldiers and their families and told them: " "The people on that ship were not people of peace, you are heroes, and it is due to your actions and bravery that the lives of your comrades were saved".

Sergeant First Class "E", who received a bullet in the abdomen, told the Prime Minister "the bullet went completely through my stomach," and pointed to the place where the bullet entered and where it exited.  Netanyahu shook his hand warmly and told him "I'm not a doctor, but it was a difficult and painful experience, I'm sure you saved many people there, yourself and others."

Another of the soldiers, Sergeant First Class "I", told how as soon as he disembarked he was attacked and thrown from the deck of the ship.  As a result of he suffered a severe skull fracture.  "I hope I'll manage to return to the next IDF Championships" he told the Prime Minister, who responded that "I hope and believe that with the help of the wonderful doctors here you will be successful and will make it to the championships".

Prof. Zeev Rotstein, Director General of Sheba Medical Center, and Dr. Arnon Afek, Deputy Director of the General Hospital, accompanied the leaders throughout the day on their visit.  Prof. Rotstein provided updates on the wounded soldiers, and improvements as they occurred in their conditions.  Two of the soldiers are currently hospitalized in moderate condition and another one is considered to have light to moderate injuries.  Eight additional wounded civilians, from foreign countries, are also hospitalized with various levels of injuries.  

Many local and foreign correspondent teams arrived over the past two days in order to cover the arrival from close range, of the wounded by helicopter and ambulance.  Sheba opened a special communications room that operated 24/7 to keep the media informed about the status of the wounded.