LAUSR

www.thelancet.com Published online May 8, 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30865-6 1 My earliest memories of my father, Noah Lucas (1927–2008), seat him perpetually at a typewriter, pipe in mouth, radio on; and hanging behind him on the wall, a framed picture of the enchanting Chagall stained glass windows—a dove carrying an olive branch of peace. As a scholar of Middle Eastern politics, he seemingly read and wrote around the clock. Publication in 1974 of his book, The Modern History of Israel, marked the beginning of my first impressions of Israel, and was an embodiment of my family’s long-standing affinity with the region. The Modern History of Israel taught a generation of political science students to view Israel radically and critically through a lens of social justice, since it broadly argued that peace would not be achieved through settlement and the occupation of land—usually in contrast to the country’s leadership. A political activist, my father was involved with radical socialist parties, and from 1953 to 1958 was head of foreign relations at Histadrut, Israel’s trade unions organisation, which at that time dominated public service in Israel and owned and operated Clalit Health Services until the enactment of the 1995 National Health Insurance Law. As detailed by A Mark Clarfield and colleagues in the introduction to this Lancet Series on health in Israel, the original principles of Clalit Health Services (formerly called Kupat Holim) formed the foundations of Israel’s egalitarian health-care provision and related policies. In Histadrut in Israel: its Aims and Achievements, my father, writing as Noah Malkosh, included a chapter on ”Mutual aid and social welfare”, in which he outlined the principles of the sick fund’s constitution, and its centrality to society’s welfare. He concluded: “Such institutions as Kupat Holim and the women workers’ movement are, first and foremost, instruments of healing and rehabilitation of the human spirit.” Amid the tragedy of the 2014 war between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, I found myself thinking that I was glad my father was not alive to see the avoidable horrors of yet another war in the region, in which innocents are victims of the inability to prize human life above all. As is well documented elsewhere, and in the final paper in this Series, The Lancet’s publication of an open letter to the people of the Gaza Strip in July, 2014, divided opinion and caused heated debate. Since that time, many lessons have been learned, and improbable relationships and friendships have been forged. These have led to important initiatives including the publication of this Series, that those involved hope will ultimately contribute to a more peaceful solution in Israel. The vision of this Series, and the accompanying Viewpoints and Essay, is considerable. The Series authors call on Israel’s Government to reposition health as a priority for the benefit of all members of Israeli society and ask that the government and related bodies be held accountable for implementing change and for realising the recommendations laid out in each of the Series papers. The Lancet is committed to supporting an annual process of review and discussions to facilitate this accountability, and we acknowledge that there are substantial challenges to face and collectively overcome. Our hope is that in bringing people together through health, we can accomplish something that decades of politicians have struggled to achieve. When I recall my earliest memories of visiting Israel in the 1970s, the Chagall windows have a personal A personal perspective on health in Israel