By EYTAN HALON(LEFT TO right) Vered Grinboim, chairwoman, Israel Friends of Sheba; Sheba director-general Yitshak Kreiss and his wife, Inbal; the chairwoman of Sheba’s Circle of Friends and her husband, Galia and Yehoshua Maor.(photo credit: AVI HOFI AND RAFI DELOUYA)
The distinguished achievements of husband and wife Prof. Yitshak and Inbal Kreiss have drawn the world’s gaze in the past 12 months.Yitshak, the director-general of award-winning Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, dedicates his days to managing the largest hospital in Israel and the Middle East. Inbal, deputy-general manager of the Space Division at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), has enjoyed a year of making lunar history. All that is, of course, in addition to raising three children.In May, Sheba Medical Center was named as the tenth best hospital in the world by the American weekly Newsweek. The hospital, which treats more than one million patients annually, was described as “a leader in medical science and biotechnical innovation, both in the Middle East and worldwide.” Over one-quarter of all Israeli medical clinical research takes place at the hospital.READ NO. 39: ZEEV ROTSTEIN>>READ NO. 41: EMILY WEISS>>See the full list of The World's Most Influential Jews>>Yitshak was appointed director-general in 2016 after serving for three decades in the IDF, rising from front-line combat surgeon to the IDF’s surgeon-general, the head of the military medical corps.Today, he is leading Sheba’s ambitious “City of Health” project, combining state-of-the-art medical treatment with innovation hubs for medical start-ups and an academic research center for medical professionals and scientists.His dedication to medicine has also served those in need beyond Israel’s borders, with Yitshak leading and acting as the executive authority in humanitarian missions for Kosovan refugees in Macedonia, earthquake victims in Haiti, victims of the Syrian civil war and those affected by a typhoon in the Philippines.“Being chosen this year to be amongst the top 10 best hospitals in the world compels us to be a world leader in helping to create the hospital of the future, using state-of-the-art technologies from our new ARC innovation concept, which will anchor our new flagship ‘City of Health,’” Yitshak told The Jerusalem Post.“These new technologies will impact the world by changing the way we treat patients – not only curing what ills them, but also providing them with a roadmap to living longer, healthier lives.”While Yitshak is developing the future of Israeli healthcare, Inbal played a critical role in the development and success of Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft, designed by SpaceIL and IAI.Although Beresheet failed to land successfully on the moon, crash-landing in the Sea of Serenity on April 11, the mission captured the imagination of children and adults alike worldwide.For 48 days, Beresheet’s ground crew watched, monitored and executed every maneuver of the spacecraft from a control center at IAI’s Yehud headquarters.Once in position to descend, the landing maneuver commenced but failed after contact was lost with the spacecraft’s main engine in the last minutes before touchdown, leading to a loss of altitude and subsequent crash landing.Prior to her current role, Inbal headed IAI’s development of Arrow-3, an anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to intercept & destroy incoming threats. The system was awarded the prestigious Israel Security Prize in July 2017.While sometimes reluctant to appear in the media, Inbal’s achievements have both amazed onlookers and contributed immeasurably to the security of the State of Israel.
