The EU gives millions to the terrorists and gives less than 1/2 million dollars to a humanitarian project that aids Palestinians and others.

At the end, the article says "According to a price list published by the Health Ministry, open heart surgery costs NIS 67,000 ($18,000), but the cost of an operation for children who are part of the project is only NIS 27,000 ($7,000)". That in itself is remarkable – why are these operations so much cheaper? But in addition, the article states earlier “…Minister for Regional Cooperation Silvan Shalom announced his office would allocate NIS 1 million (about $260,000) to the program, enough to perform an additional 250 surgeries a year.” That reduces the cost per operation to a little over $1,000! The project is definitely praiseworthy, but somehow the figures don’t add up?

HUNDREDS. EVERY MONTH. Save a Child's Heart is a wonderful, amazing group, and should be richly praised for everything that it does. But ynet, and the media in general, need to report the bigger story as well. The truth is that In May, 2010 alone, 890 patients entered Israel from Gaza, accompanied by 887 companions. In 2009, over TEN THOUSAND Gazan patients and their companions entered Israel. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/HumanitarianAid/Palestinians/Increased_humanitarian_aid_Gaza_after_IDF_operation_Jan_2009.htm And how many times have Palestinians exploited such arrangements to carry out terror attacks against Israeli civilians? More than 20 times in the last 5 years. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/Israeli_humanitarian_lifeline_Gaza_25-May-2010.htm Israel has been quietly facilitating treatment of Gaza's kids and adults for years, not to mention trucking 1000s of tons of medical aid into Gaza. Hamas and its allies, on the other hand, attempt to use this humanitarian program as a means to infiltrate and kill Israeli kids and adults. I commend ynet for doing a story on SACH, which is a worthy organization and should receive lots of coverage for the wonderful work that it does. But ynet, and the media in general, should also report on some of the things that Israel has been doing all along. While NGOs and the media around the world pretend that Israel is the villain, the facts say otherwise.

Henning Schwartz, read more closely. 1. The EU is adding $496K to Israel's $260K, and 2. the article does not claim that all 250 operations would be the full open-heart surgery that costs $7k. Your challenges make the article appear suspicious, whereas there is nothing remotely suspicious about this wonderful project.

my grandchild was operated on by the team! they are fantastic!!!!!! kol hakavod.

I thought Israelis were involved in harvesting the organs of Palestinians, not actually helping them...this is SOOO confusing!!!!! Anyone wants to bet that this article does not make it into ANY newspaper, especially the Swedish newspaper which published the latest round of this horrendous lie about Israel?

still think the worst of us and continue to hate us.

This is one major point that needs to be said and repeated all the time. Jewish doctors in Israel adhere strictly to the Hippocratic oath and even operate on the very terrorists who survived their own attacks and intended to kill many innocents. They push back on any criticism of their actions stating their sworn oath to help people - full stop. Conversely, an Israeli Arab doctor refused to help a patient because her last name was Kahane. He wasn't sure if the person was related to Meir but that didn't sway his decision. Even after the Scuds from Iraq and Qassams from Gaza, SACH was working on children from these countries...even to the point of covering the total bill.

The price of the surgery is not charged of the children as you can imagine that 7000$ in most developing countries is too much for the families, but taken from donations. All the donations help keep this service ( including airfare in many cases ) completely free for the patients

What is praiseworthy about giving aid to Bnei Amalek (Muslims)? This is immoral behavior, and it would be even if third parties paid for it 100%. What do you not understand about these Muslims? They tell us over and over that they love death! They do! That is their purpose--and they live only to kill Jews. How many Jews die every year because doctors save Muslim lives?

& Jews are commanded to show the world the way to behave. Yes, I fully understand, and even agree with to a certain extent, your attitude - I have a good deal of it myself. But with projects like this, we can hold our heads high and tell the world, "We are Jews, & we are better than you pretend."

How many Jewish kids have gone to Arab countries for medical treatment? Answer: none

Jason & all, its up to us Jews & Israelis to circulate this article to as many of our contacts as we can ,to prove how Israel is helping the Pallies.

is very rare spoken out and for sure not the thing what the Palestenians and their supporters want to hear. Save a child's heart is a wonderful thing. I saw a report about it some time ago and was impressed by what the team is doing.

... when we show contempt for Jewish life, and that is exactly what these doctors are doing, and what the government is doing when it uses tax dollars to subsidize such things. It is NOT moral to facilitate the death of Jews. We are indeed expected to be a light to the Nations, and that means we have to guide based on what is right, not on conventional Christian/UN "morality." From a Jewish perspective, there can be no mercy for these cruel Muslims. Judaism is not Christianity.

That is our commandment. That is what Jews do. I know a little something about medical contributions. My husband is a maxillofacial plastic surgeon. He -- along with teams of surgeons, nurses and medical technicians -- routinely travel to places that most people never even heard of to perform surgery on children born with maxillofacial deformities. These surgical teams often work around the clock for days and days. They bring their own equipment, pay their own travel costs and operate on thousands of children. My husband has always characterized his work as "putting smiles on faces." In the third world, soft tissue deformities -- which usually result from poor gestational nutrition -- are all too common. Congenital heart defects are also a huge problem. In advanced Western societies, such defects are detected at birth, and there are systems in place to repair such defects. But not in the third world. Children born with heart defects -- all too common, sadly -- in the third world are mostly under a death sentence. What amounts to simple surgery in the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, et cetera is simply not routinely available in depressed areas. For pity's sake -- if there is no mechanism in place to fix a minor cleft palate, what hope is there for children born with major heart defects? So, next time, before you devote your ire to Jews and Israel, contemplate this: a fraction of the funds which go to the Palestine Authority and which are promptly translated into personal gain for Palestine Authority "officials" can repair a thousand small hearts. Please remember that. We are, after all, a light unto the nations.

why are they even allowed to visit an enemy country?

Why are the thugs, the savages, the gangsters of the islamic world,insist in sending their little darlings to Israel for complex operations (and missing their Hate classes), and having Jewish doctors, dogs, pigs, performing these life saving procedures ?. Shouldn't they be sent to Gaza instead? I vividly recall Obama touting to the world, to America, how islamic contribution to science, to medicine are undeniable facts. Could this be another 'ali ba-ba ' fairy tale by the US President and his " brothers "?? Or a simple reason, to bring their children back to health so they can continue their murderous training in blowing up jewish doctors, nurses, hospitals (it did happen before), according to allah's dictates, and the help of big bucks from America.!

Sara: We love reading your talkbacks You write very well and to the point You manage always to catch the essence of what my wife and I are thinking. And you're fair and balanced. Yishar coach! D

I respectfully beg to disagree. The highest thing to which any Jew can aspire is to save a soul. We are responsible for maintaining that standard, but we are not responsible for the callous disregard for life that others hold. I can readily understand loss of life during war. I cannot understand allowing a child with a defective heart to die simply because he is raised in a faith that cult worships death. I need to wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and like the person who looks back at me. That means that I need to care about the medical needs of others, even if their own people do not care.

And the report on CNN stated that Israelis don't allow children to leave Gaza for medical treatment. It happened immediately after so called Piss Flotilla, there was one (sorry, but there is not other description for her) lying bitch stating that. Maybe somebody with more time can check in the CNN archives and give this stupid lying bitch a name.

Your perspective has nothing to do with Judaism (except the "Reform" kind, which is not Torah Judaism), and actually is against Jewish principles. I have already alluded to one relevant cite: "All those who are merciful with the cruel will come to be cruel to the merciful" (Kohelet Rabba, 7:16). The highest thing for a Jew to do is NOT "to save a soul" but to love one's fellow Jew. When this object is actively impeded by saving the life of an enemy, doing so is doubly sinful, from a Jewish perspective. Again, my point is not to insist that you change your views, but only to insist that your views have nothing to do with Judaism. I write all this, by the way, though I am not "religious" in the Israeli sense.

It's a noble and ethical thing to do, but why don't you leave the Palestinians to their own destiny like they've been telling you for 45 years.

I love the work that is going on through this very unique & rare project & actively support the group who began this ingenious, peace building organisation, "Shevet Achim". Why is there no mention of "Shevet Achim" the founders 15 yrs ago of this ever-expanding work & the back bone of what is going on with "Save a Child's Heart"? They are behind raising a lot of the money that gets given towards the surgeries & they are great partners with Wolfson & Save a Childs Heart who personally care for the parents of the children who are given surgery, work out all of their complicated paperwork etc for entering Israel etc. Why were they not acknowledged or even mentioned? I know as an organisation they are not involved for personal acknowledgment, but I still think it would be courteous to mention their substantial involvement.

You've got to be kidding. While you're the western world, resist brain-washing. Look for truth everywhere and educate yourself...You won't get killed for that here...