Peres speaks out over social outcry

In meeting with Medical Association chief, president calls on both sides to find immediate solution

Elior Levy|Published: 07.31.11 , 12:07

Less than 24 hours after 150,000 people came out on to the streets and called for social change, President Shimon Peres made it clear Sunday that "it is our duty to listen to this generation and draw the necessary conclusions."

During a meeting with Medical Association President Dr. Leonid Eidelman, Peres said that "the protests were very moving".

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The president has been holding meetings with industry leaders, economists and professors in efforts to find ways of bringing about solutions to the problems that have risen in recent weeks with the hope of bettering the situation for Israel's middle class.

The president stressed that there is need for change in the State's priorities and a need to dedicate significant funds to the middle class.

President Peres and Dr. Leonid Eidelman (Photo: Noam Moskovich)

During the meeting with Dr. Eidelman, who is on a hunger strike, the president called on the government and the doctors to end the crisis and accept an immediate decision on the matter.

"What impressed me was the doctors' concern for the nation," said Peres, "they need to be afforded the means to work in reasonable conditions. The strike has been going on for a while, and time is running out. The health system in a democratic country should be available to everyone. The time for decisions is here and I am holding talks with the government in order to get a decision."

Dr. Eidelman said: "It is an honor to be here but we are looking for a solution for the public health crisis and not honor. Every year over 900 new doctors are needed in the health system. We need a dramatic change."

He claimed that "doctors are exhausted" and went on to say: "Doctors can't work under these conditions. We have no options for promotion and doctors are leaving the country or leaving the profession…The situation is unbearable, which is why I decided to go on a hunger strike."

The doctors' struggle received a wind of support from the leaders of the tent protest. "We identify with the justified doctors' struggle and demand more hospital beds, more manpower and more equipment," said Stav Shafir during the mass protest in Tel Aviv.