US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro visited Kaplan Hospital in Rechovot to meet with victims of Hamas rocket attacks. Upon his arrival on Tuesday, the ambassador was met by hospital administrator Prof. Yaakov Yahav and a contingent of senior personnel. The ambassador conveyed good wishes on the victims on behalf of US President Barak Obama.

The ambassador visited victims admitted to the surgical and orthopedic wards, hearing their stories and receiving a briefing on their conditions. He stopped at the bedside of one of the victims of the erev Shabbos rocket attack in the Gur shteibel in Ashkelon, avreich Shmuel Breuner. Shmuel’s father took out his son’s tefillin, showing the ambassador the tefillin shel rosh, where a sizable piece of rocket shrapnel penetrated, saving his son’s head from a possible fatal injury. Shmuel was listed in serious condition when paramedics arrived at the emergency room.

The ambassador, who is also Jewish appeared moved by the story, expressing delight over the avreich’s rapid recovery, now capable of conducting a conversation with his diplomatic visitor. The ambassador also learned the victim is a US citizen as well.

The ambassador showered the medical staff with words of praise on behalf of President Obama, wishing the patients and total and speedy recovery.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)