(VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

During the Tuesday, 7 Marcheshvan dedication of a new emergency room in the northern border community of Kiryat Shmona, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was interrupted numerous times by disenchanted citizens who feel that are treated like second class citizens as compared to residents of major cities in the center of the country.

Mr. Netanyahu began his comments with a hesped for close friend and prominent attorney Yaakov Weinroth Z”L. He then continued by addressing the new emergency room in Kiryat Shmona, the purpose of his visit.

Following is an excerpt of his comments from that dedication, which addresses the new emergency room in the northern municipality.

“…We are all susceptible to disease and we all need medical care, help and support. I think that this is the meaning of what we are doing here today, which is truly a day of joy mixed with sadness, but a day of joy. I would like to say something about the idea that every Israeli citizen, everywhere, in the center or in what is called the periphery, which we are working to cancel, every Israeli deserves the best care, the very best, and I know that it is very important to Deputy Minister Litzman, as it is to me.”

“We have opened dozens of such centers in what is called ‘the periphery’ in order to give this care, I want to say, this equal care for every Israeli citizen, and again, Jews and non-Jews, in the cities and in outlying areas. I think that this expresses the essence of our policy.

PM Netanyahu and his wife Sara attended the dedication of a medical emergency care center in Kiryat Shemona. The PM and his wife, along with Deputy Health Minister Litzman, toured the facility & participated in the unveiling; PM affixed the mezuzah.https://t.co/kYhLKQDwn2 pic.twitter.com/YMFqVlHucU

— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 16, 2018

“The vision I believe in is to cancel the geographic and social periphery, to cancel the terms ‘first Israel’ and ‘second Israel’. There is one Israel and it needs to be an integrated state, a state of equal opportunity, a state that cares for all of its citizens.

“Over the past decade we have been systematically and consistently realizing this vision, you know because you travel. Each time you see that time is getting shorter. We are shortening the distances between the Galil and the Negev and the center of the country, first of all by means of advanced transportation infrastructures. But beyond this, we are investing in creating new centers of housing, employment, education, health, culture and quality-of-life.

“And now, the emergency room that we are dedicating today is a very significant addition to Kiryat Shmona and its environs, and I know how long you have waited for this moment, me too, and also Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, and Nissim Malka, and I thank you, and you my dear friends. You didn’t stop insisting or demanding, and we said: ‘We need to get going. We are also, in effect, taking axes and hacking at the jungle.’

The vision I believe in is to cancel the geographic and social periphery, to cancel the terms 'first Israel' and 'second Israel'. There is one Israel and it needs to be an integrated state, a state of equal opportunity, a state that cares for all of its citizens. pic.twitter.com/u7Jb6NsPFs

— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 16, 2018

“The medical services that will be given here around the clock will be on a high level, routinely, and if it proves necessary, and I hope it does not, but if it is necessary – also in an emergency. Everything will be done close to home, with sophisticated equipment and excellent doctors. One need not travel 40 kilometers to Tzefas for a blood test or an x-ray, or a broken hand. This is a genuine revolution. It is possible that this is a first step towards building an even bigger medical center, which I would want to see in Kiryat Shmona as part of the health system that is flourishing here in the north of the country. I want all residents of the Gallil and the Golan Heights to receive quality medical care – Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze and Circassians. They are all eligible for this in an equal way.

“2,700 years ago, the prophet Jeremiah (8:22) asked: ‘Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not recovered?’ Today we respond: There are physicians across from Gilead, and there are doctors in the Gallil panhandle, and there is excellent medical care in Israel, in all parts of Israel. Congratulations to Kiryat Shmona and the neighboring councils and most important – good health to you and all citizens of Israel.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem / Video Credit: קבוצת רוטרניק – Photo Credit: Chaim Zach, GPO)