(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama on Sunday evening opened the work year of the Israel Cancer Association (ICA) at an event at the President’s Residence. The speakers at the event were President Rivlin and Professor Eliezer Robinson, chairman of the ICA and a past president of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). Other speakers included Miri Ziv, CEO of the ICA, leaders and volunteers from across the country and children who are currently being treated for and recovering from cancer.

“The ‘knock on the door’ campaign is a shining example of mutual responsibility. We are all responsible for each other,” said the president in his remarks and added “we are all partners in the battle against a shared foe. Cancer is a disease that, unfortunately, comes knocking at the doors of every part of our society. Cancer does not distinguish between Jews, Muslims and Christians, between men and women, between old and young. Cancer has no pity for rich or poor, does not pass over the center of the country or spare outlying areas. We are all united and determined to fight it, led by the people of the ICA, the doctors and the researchers, who are working tirelessly, day and night.”

At the end of his remarks, the president said, “I want to give you strength, girls and boys, and to send from here my great and deep support for all those Israelis who are fighting cancer. We love you and give you strength and pray for you and hope that you will prevail and be able to continue your lives in joy and peace. Thank you to the people of the Israel Cancer Association. Let us all open our doors and our hearts.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/photo credit: Kobi Gideon, GPO)