By SARAH LEVIA UNITED HATZALAH ambucycle is seen with Jerusalem in the background(photo credit: SHIRA HERSHKOPF/UNITED HATZALAH)
In honor of Israel’s 70th birthday, United Hatzalah is adding 70 new state-ofthe- art ambucycles to its fleet, each representing a year of Israel’s existence, from 1948 to 2018.Benefactors from all over the world who have donated these 70 ambucycles were invited to participate in a four-day series of events that will take place all over Israel in honor of this year’s Independence Day celebration.United Hatzalah enabled these philanthropists to give back by allowing them to choose a special year from Israel’s history that has meaning to them and making that year their dedicated number for the donated ambucycle.In anticipation of this four-day event, United Hatzalah founder and CEO Eli Beer told The Jerusalem Post, “This is the first annual delegation taking place and it is open to Jews and non-Jews.We will teach them that not only do we build the best weapons and develop amazing technology, but we also create incredible social innovations like United Hatzalah.“Social innovation is one of the most important and unique parts of Israel.Not enough people are talking about it, so we are going to show them how Israel is so different from the rest of the world in this respect,” he added.The four-day journey began in Jerusalem, where they toured the Old City and met with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and members of the Knesset.The participants also had a chance to visit United Hatzalah’s headquarters in Jerusalem and take a helicopter flight to the Gaza border to see some of the innovative measures protecting Israel against terror tunnel attacks from Gaza.The evening of Remembrance Day will be commemorated with IDF soldiers and United Hatzalah volunteers in a memorial ceremony in the Eshkol region and the next day will be spent visiting sites where the Six Day War was fought.
The culmination of the four-day trip will be on Independence Day, with the dedication of the 70 new ambucycles in a ceremony in Tel Aviv.There is currently a fleet of 700 ambucycles all over Israel operated by a dedicated cadre of some 5,000 trained volunteers who drop whatever they are doing do save lives – frequently within two minutes.Since 2006, United Hatzalah has been able to help save numerous lives in Israel by getting to emergencies significantly faster than an ambulance can. Ahead of Israel’s 70th birthday, Beer is proud of the work United Hatzalah has done for the country and the world.“Here is an organization that continually fights to develop new ways and new technologies that will help save lives.It is the most dynamic and adaptable organization in the world of emergency medical services and lifesaving. Whether we need to provide emergency medical care free of charge for people in Israel or in other countries around the globe, we will continue to create and expand until everyone, no matter where they live, has the highest level of care possible.By using our method of training and equipping volunteer responders, we have succeeded at saving thousands of lives all over the globe.”Of those 70 ambucycles being dedicated at the event, nine will be donated by the congregation at the Palm Beach Synagogue congregation and orchestrated by Rabbi Moshe Schiner in honor of the teachers and students who were killed during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February, including teacher and coach Scott Beigel, who died while trying to save lives.Among the 70 donors is United Hatzalah board member and renowned attorney Alan Dershowitz. In honor of his 80th birthday, he and his childhood friends chipped in to donate an ambucycle to the fleet.Beer recounts something Dershowitz said to him in a recent event for United Hatzalah in New York City.“Alan Dershowitz told me, ‘Israel is not only a start-up nation, it’s also a life-saving nation,’ and I think United Hatzalah is one of the biggest examples of why Israel is a life-saving nation and why so many countries around the world are copying us. We have great weapons, but also incredible social innovations. United Hatzalah is one of them” Beer believes that the work of United Hatzalah is vitally important and is constantly looking toward the future to further expand and improve its mission.“The spirit of Israel is one that sheds light on the rest of the world and aims to help people all over the globe by making it a better place. We are a country that is continually innovating and creating new technologies and methods to save lives faster while providing the highest quality of medical care. United Hatzalah is a shining example of the spirit of this nation,” Beer concluded.This article was written in cooperation with United Hatzalah.