After weeks of planning and coordination, an unprecedented operation to bring the equipment to Israel has come out • An air train in collaboration with El Al and ICL will take twice daily flights until the end of the operation • Defense Minister: "Every effort is made to bring life-saving equipment" • El Al CEO: right"

Tonight (Sunday) Joint Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, El Al and Chemicals for Israel (ICL) Announced: An Air Rail of 11 El Al Airlines to Bring Millions of Essential Medical Equipment Items to China - Masks, Protective Suits , Respirators, and more.

The Director of Procurement (Director) and the International Transportation Unit at the Ministry of Defense led the procurement operation with the assistance of ICL and its representatives in China. The Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Embassy in Beijing assisted with the procurement effort and also recruited a great deal of equipment from donors. After two weeks of frantic preparations that included international procurement, the effort Diplomatic and logistical assessments for transportation, an air train of essential medical equipment from China to Israel was launched soon.

El Al's Dreamliner plane is currently taking off from Beijing Airport with over 900,000 surgical masks, half a million protective suits for medical teams and other essential equipment. The widespread procurement operation in China was led by Deputy CEO and Chief Executive Officer, Avi Dadon, through the establishment of a "head bridge" in China to purchase essential medical equipment, according to the Ministry of Health requirements and through ICL and its representatives in China.

In addition, in the coming days, ventilators and much more equipment raised by the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Embassy in China will be flown to Israel from donors in the country.

For the purpose of operating the air train, the International Transportation Commissioner in the Ministry of Defense procurement has recruited Al-Al, which, as mentioned, will issue 11 Dreamliner aircraft trained in the cargo flight in the coming days. The first plane took off from China a short time ago and will land at Ben-Gurion Airport tomorrow morning. El Al will operate 2 flights a day for about a week until the operation is complete.

The air train was made possible by an extensive diplomatic effort by the Foreign Ministry, led by the Israeli ambassador to China, Zvi Hefetz and the Shanghai Consulate.

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett: "I thank the Ministry of Defense, El Al and ICL, who sent us to the edge of the world to bring life-saving equipment here. We continue to work with all our might and every way we have, both locally and internationally. The Ministry of Defense and the IDF Continue to operate 24/7, to address every task and need, as part of the national anti-corona campaign. "

Foreign Minister Israel Katz: 'The Foreign Ministry is working on all its missions in the world in an effort to obtain the necessary medical equipment to deal with the Corona. These efforts bear fruit today in the arrival of the equipment so necessary to save the lives of many Israelis and aid the medical teams in the country. "

El Al's CEO, Gonen Ussishkin: "El Al considers it imperative that it has the right to bring cargo and essential equipment to Israel, in order to ensure Israel's air connection to the world."

Reviv Zoller, CEO of ICL, added: "ICL is first and foremost an Israeli company, and in times of emergency, we are proud to make all our resources available to the state, to participate and assist as much as possible in the joint fight against the Corona virus. We will continue to assist as much as possible for the health and economic strength of the country. "

Commissioner of International Transportation in the Ministry of Defense and Deputy Director of Procurement, Shai Halperin: "Operating an air train of essential equipment for the State of Israel is one of the Defense Ministry's key missions in emergencies. Hopefully within a few days we will help improve the State of Israel's readiness to deal with the Corona virus."