Ethiopian Doctor Who Lit Yom Ha'Atzmaut Torch Heads IDF Team in Nepal

Israel's first Ethiopian doctor, who lit one of the traditional torches on Yom Ha'Atzmaut give years ago, is leading the IDF medical team in Nepal.

Dr. Avi Yitzchak made Aliyah in the early 1990s in the Operation Shlomo airlift and has become a symbol of success for the Ethiopian community.

He arrived in Nepal five days ago, when he said there was absolutely nothing in the realm of first aid, and decided where to set up a field hospital, which went into operation immediately.

"We began accepting patients from the Nepalese army hospital that was not able to function well, especially in the field of surgery," said Yitzchak, who specialized in surgery when he studied medicine at Soroka Hospital at Ben Gurion University.

"We are receiving citizens of Nepal with medical problems that the Nepalese army hospital cannot treat beaus they accept only soldiers and their families," Dr. Yitzchak said from Katmandu.

When not in the army, Dr. Yitzhak works as a surgeon at Soroka.

When he was in Haiti in 2010, he said, "It's unbelievable how the small State of Israel managed in 20 hours to establish  the most advanced field hospital in Haiti. There is a huge amount of gratitude for Israel's efforts… I am proud to be a part of this."