“In our entire 69-year-history, we had never operated under direct enemy fire,” says Dr. Rafael Beyar, director of the largest hospital in Northern Israel. Rambam, a world medical research leader in biotechnology, cardiology, stem cells research, genetics and the next generation of imaging technologies, was transformed into a war zone last July as it suffered daily attacks from Hezbollah’s Katyusha rockets. Despite unimaginable conditions, Beyar and his staff treated some 250 Israel Defense Force soldiers and more than 560 area civilians. He could not have done it, he insists, without the devotion and commitment of his staff. “I learned how to really know the people there, and I was amazed by the commitment of the workers in time of war.”