**9. The effects on society and the region of the Israeli Syrian medical assistance programme**

The medical assistance programme in Israel for Syrian patients certainly had important effects on everyone involved. These will be discussed by category:

### **9.1 Hospital staff**

Many staff members either have fought on the Syrian or Lebanese front themselves in various wars or have or had close family members, friends, colleagues, neighbours or acquaintances who were involved in or wounded, hurt or killed in such fighting. Possibly worse are those who suffered the egregious cruelties and tortures of imprisonment in Syria. These experiences certainly made it very difficult sometimes for those involved to relate to Syrian patients as any other patient. At times the Syrians added significantly to the burdens of an already overworked and understaffed hospital. There were occasions during which there were insufficient resources available for regular Israeli patients because of the large numbers of Syrians. No doubt these facts, combined with the medical complexities of these patients and the resulting extra burdens of work placed upon the staff, led to a degree of dilemma, resentment and even resistance among staff members. I am not aware that these feelings ever rose above the level of occasional grumbling and discontent, yet the hospital certainly had to devote resources to the psychological well-being of staff members, via individual and group discussions and focus groups. On the other hand, when the new hospital director took over his post in 2015, one of the first things he did was to organise hospital-wide consultations about whether to continue or cease the programme of humanitarian assistance, and the conclusions were loud and clear to continue. On a simple human level, when one is faced with suffering and distress, one feels an inner compulsion to help, and this is augmented by one's professional obligations. As Churchill plainly stated regarding a moral obligation, "one can do no other". But dealing with these feelings and dilemmas engenders a cost. In 2016 these issues became the subject of detailed

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*Treating the Enemy: Victims of the Syrian Civil War in Israel*

study, and the results of this have been published [10]. This study concluded that the ability of staff to function was influenced by hindering and facilitating factors and that it was important to identify these in order to minimise the former and

The support by gifts and actions that was forthcoming from all aspects of society has been referred to already. To some extent this was the result of identification with civilians caught up in the maelstrom of war and by events beyond their control. There was a widespread hope and belief that good deeds speak from themselves and that inevitably the provision of medical aid would contribute in some way to changing attitudes and opinions on both sides of the border. On a more general level, the national media gave scope to the expression of pride in the altruism and selflessness of a country surrounded by hatred and ferocious aggression responding with kindness and (expensive) humanitarian action. This speaks to the basic Jewish value of "healing the world" ("tikkun olam"), in which every individual is enjoined to help making the world a better place. There is also the strong associated memory of the holocaust during which Jews were the defenceless victims of merciless cruelty, murder and oppression. There is a national consensus that Jews, of all people,

cannot therefore stand idly by while similar suffering falls on others.

This is the most difficult category to understand, partly because of the natural reticence, suspicion and fear they had in talking freely (something they are not used to in their home country) and partly because of the confusion engendered by the circumstances of their stay in Israel. Given the limited evidence available, one can say that some patients expressed gratitude for the kindness shown to them, and one would like to hope that this and the reactions of their friends and neighbours may lead to positive changes among some Syrians. This hope was reinforced when some Syrian refugees in Europe published blogs stating that the real enemy of the Syrian people was Assad and that Israel was their friend [11]. On the other hand, the Assad regime and its Iranian-Hezbollah allies are exploiting the humanitarian programme to make conspiracy and other mendacious claims against Israel. The last word on this certainly has not been written, and it is still too early to know whether and what

The Israeli and Syrian programme of humanitarian and medical assistance between 2013 and 2018, devoted to the victims one of the bloodiest wars since World War II, has many unique characteristics, and among these are the setting of one state affording aid to citizens (combatant and non-combatant citizens of an enemy state), the nature and treatment of the medical issues involved, the ethical and legal problems associated and the short- and long-term effects on people on both sides. It has been stressed that the provision of medical treatment is a humanitarian imperative even for (perhaps especially for) the enemy, but this also impacts political and strategic interests and may create serious dilemmas for the people involved. This chapter has summarised the events and posed more questions than for which there are available answers. It is the author's hope that the reader's interest will be stimulated and that the various issues raised will lead him to constructive

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87936*

strengthen the latter.

**9.2 Society in Israel**

**9.3 Syrians**

the long-term outcomes will be.

**10. Conclusions**

study, and the results of this have been published [10]. This study concluded that the ability of staff to function was influenced by hindering and facilitating factors and that it was important to identify these in order to minimise the former and strengthen the latter.
