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HAC Provides Critical
Assistance to Evacuees

150,000 individuals were evacuated following
the October 7th attack by Hamas. In response,
HAC’s Department of Optometry, in
coordination with the Dept. of Ophthalmology
at Hadassah Medical Center, established
vision clinics in Dead Sea hotels, in which
evacuees were being housed. These clinics
offered comprehensive vision care services,
including refractive and vision examinations,
ophthalmological assessments, ocular imaging,
and the provision of free glasses.

Approximately 800 evacuees received
examinations, and approximately 700 pairs of
glasses were distributed. This project serves as a
model for future humanitarian interventions.

In addition, the walk-in clinics at the HAC campus
in Jerusalem carried out free vision examinations
and distributed free eyeglasses to hundreds of
evacuees who were being lodged at hotels or
other facilities in and around Jerusalem.

In connection to this project, HAC’s President
Bertold Fridlender presented a special award
to Issa Zeitoun, a student in the Department of
Optometry who organized a special donation
of eyeglasses from his family’s optical business
towards this effort.

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