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Ukraine’s first lady to visit Israel

Olena Zelenska will discuss post-trauma initiatives with her counterpart, Michal Herzog.

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska. Credit: UNICEF via Wikimedia Commons.
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska. Credit: UNICEF via Wikimedia Commons.

Olena Zelenska will visit Israel next week at the invitation of her counterpart in Jerusalem, Michal Herzog.

The wife of President Isaac Herzog will escort the wife of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during her time in the Jewish state, with a focus on post-trauma therapies.

The visit comes against the backdrop of Israel providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine who are suffering under the Russian invasion of their country. Israel has also taken in refugees and provided medical treatment to the wounded.

On Monday, the two women will visit Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. After that they will proceed to a professional discussion with the National Coalition for Trauma and NATAL—The Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center, a nonprofit organization specializing in the field of war-and-terror-related trauma, together with senior representatives from Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the European Union.

“Mrs. Zelensky’s visit is the result of a collaboration that took place over the past year to strengthen therapists in the field of mental health and trauma care in Ukraine, and as a result of the relationship formed between the wife of the country’s president, Michal Herzog, and the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, in these fields,” said the President’s Office.

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