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UK Medical Journal Publishes Issue Analyzing Israel 3 Years After Denouncing It

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The British medical journal The Lancet published a special issue on Israel three years after publishing an open letter that accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza.

The special issue, titled “Health in Israel: Progress and Challenges in a Region of Conflict,” was unveiled Monday in Tel Aviv. The issue is part of The Lancet’s series of country analyses investigating progress toward universal health coverage, and explores the unique aspects of health and health care delivery in Israel. The papers, authored by academics and policymakers in Israel, offer constructive recommendations for strengthening the country’s health care system, improving health and addressing health inequalities in Israel.

In the August 2014 issue of the Lancet, several dozen doctors signed an open letter accusing Israel of a “massacre” and “vicious war crimes” during its war against Hamas.

The Lancet’s editor-in-chief, Dr. Richard Horton, visited Israel that October and then wrote in an editorial that he regretted publishing the letter.

In the wake of the Gaza letter, the journal issued new guidelines to deal with “submissions that lie at the difficult intersection of medicine and politics.”

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