The President of Israel, Yitzhak Herzog and his wife, Michal, arrived on Thursday, 2.11.2023, for a visit to the National Insurance and met with Labor Minister, Yoav Ben Tzur, the National Insurance Administration and the employees of the Hostile Actions and Rehabilitation Departments, and had a conversation about the responses given to the public as part of the organization's activities.
Course of the visit
During the visit, the President was presented with data on the number of wounded people which is growing by the day, especially in terms of mental health, as well as the assistance and the financial and mental package given to bereaved families, as well as legislative changes, benefits and help offered to the families of missing people and hostages.
The President's wife recounted the visits they made to the hotels and meetings with the wounded and families, as well as the cheering received by the National Insurance for making personal contact with them. The President's wife noted the importance of individual accompaniment, embarrassment, and the fear of the wide consequences of hostile actions following the disaster that will need to be addressed and answered. In addition, she emphasized the need to preserve the rehabilitation and hostile action workers of the National Institute, who, beside the fact that many of them live in towns and villages under threat of rockets, deal in parallel with the stories, personal accompaniment and responses to the victims of the war.
The President and his wife met the workers, strengthened them and had an open conversation about the consequences, stories and responses to be given for the lifetime of the victims of the disaster.
President Yitzhak Herzog: "I visited the National Insurance Institute this morning, which represents the first entity to provide state response to the families of the murdered, wounded and hostage citizens. We had an exciting and in-depth conversation about the immense effort required to address this difficult and unfamiliar challenge, cut red tape, and to support everyone in need. Thank you to the General Director, to the administration and the dedicated employees.״
Labor Minister, Yoav Ben Tzur: "The National Insurance understood the gravity of the moment from the onset and stood at the forefront of the social response. As a reservist captain in IDF Rabbinate, I became familiar with difficult sights, but what the Israeli people and the residents of the south saw and experienced was unbearable, and the country never suffered anything like it. The President's visit gives a lot of strength to the workers who deal with all the consequences of hostile actions and terrorism and it is of great importance, especially at this time."
Acting Director General of the National Insurance, Yarona Shalom: "The National Insurance has a great mission in handling and assisting with the mental and economic issues of the wounded, bereaved families and families of hostages. We are going through challenging times as citizens and as workers who give important responses during the war, but consider it a public, social, ethical and human mission to keep helping them as much as possible. The President and his wife's warm embrace of National Insurance workers came at an important time and we will carry on with all our strength in that spirit."