Alan Dershowitz's first ride on a United Hatzalah ambucycle

Dershowitz was in Israel last week to attend the opening of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.

Alan Dershowitz sits on an Ambucycle with United Hatzala founder Eli Beer in Jerusalem (photo credit: Courtesy)
Alan Dershowitz sits on an Ambucycle with United Hatzala founder Eli Beer in Jerusalem
(photo credit: Courtesy)
For the first time, Alan Dershowitz rode one of United Hatzala's ambucycles, their signature life saving vehicle.
Dershowitz was in Israel last week to attend the opening of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem. As part of his trip, he visited the United Hatzalah headquarters in Jerusalem, an organization whose international board he sits.
Dershowitz isn’t the type of person who typically rides motorcycles. Yet, on the morning of the day that the embassy opened, Dershowitz rode one of the organization's iconic ambucycles, (a motorcycle equipped with all of the gear that a regular ambulance carries) and was driven from his hotel across the city of Jerusalem with three other friends, one of whom was Isy Danon, a South African philanthropist who honored Dershowitz by donating $180,000 to the organization and having Dershowitz forever inscribed on the Wall of Founders in the main lobby of the building.
It was Dershowitz's first time on a motorcycle, and as he and four of his friends are all celebrating their 80th birthdays this year, the group got together to donate one to the organization.
At the headquarters, Danon recalled how Dershowitz introduced him to the organization.
“I recall that you told me that you are approached on a daily basis by organizations who ask you to sit as the Chairman of their boards and that you turn them all down, and that you refuse to have your name associated with any organization officially except for United Hatzalah.”
"I do that because I really don’t like to sit on boards," Dershowitz added. "But Eli Beer told me that if I sit on the board of United Hatzalah that he could guarantee me that my service would end up saving lives. So I said to myself, how can I say no to that?”
Dershowitz said he urged others across the US to donate to the organization.
"If you can’t do that buy a (Bluebird) field communication device or something that is used to save a life. There is no better gift in the world than something that saves a life."