Fourteen United Nations (UN) Ambassadors visited United Hatzalah headquarters on Monday 12 Kislev, as part of a trip that was escorted by Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon and was organized by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Project Interchange. The trip is being led by Ambassador Aaron Jacob, AJC Director of Diplomatic Affairs.

The delegation of 14 Ambassadors from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America toured United Hatzalah headquarters in order to learn more about the lifesaving work that the organization is doing across Israel.

“I arrived in Israel with a group of 14 UN Ambassadors from four continents,” said Danon. “The United Nations is obsessed in the way that they deal with Israel and it is important for us to show the Ambassadors the reality on the ground, the challenges that we face and the hard facts so that they see it with their own eyes, without the interpretations, lies and incitement.”

Danon said that it was especially important for the Ambassadors to see the work that United Hatzalah volunteers are doing across Israel and around the globe. “During our tour of Jerusalem, it was important for us that the Ambassadors visit the headquarters of United Hatzalah so that they could be exposed to the important work that the organization, its staff, and professional volunteers, are doing in saving lives every day and all over the world,” said Danon.

United Hatzalah President Eli Beer said following the visit that it exposed the Ambassadors to the significant work of the volunteers who come from all backgrounds and walks-of-life. “The Ambassadors had a chance to see the work of our volunteers, who are Jewish, Arab, Druse, Bedouin and Christian and who work together all in an effort to save lives in Israel and around the globe and arrive at the scene of a medical emergency in under three minutes. The foundation of our model is empowering the community and the local population, and giving them the tools necessary to respond to any type of medical emergency from a sick neighbor to a terror attack. The community based responders answer the calls of any emergency helping their neighbors, their friends and even themselves.”

Beer explained that the success of the organization is also due in part to the “intense training and state-of-the-art, Israeli developed, technology that is used by the organization. We have created a powerful social revolution that engages the power of the community and utilizes it to save lives. During this visit, we are inviting other countries around the world to come and learn from our successes in the hope that they will embrace this model of lifesaving in their own countries. We are opening our doors to any and all countries that wish to adopt our model and begin this social revolution of lifesaving in their own cities and communities.”

The delegation includes ambassadors from Albania, Argentina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burundi, the Republic of Cameroon, Costa Rica, Georgia, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, the Federated States of Micronesia, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)