Meet Israel’s Frontline Heroes

The IDF has taken on a support role, as Israel’s doctors, nurses and medics go to battle

By Ryan Jones | | Topics: Coronavirus, Magen David Adom
Photo: Flash90

Israel is a nation accustomed to crisis. But even here, the coronavirus has presented a unique challenge that is testing the capabilities, and faith, of the Jewish state.

What makes this crisis most different from other crises (to borrow a phrase from the Passover Haggadah) is that our frontline troops come not from the battle-hardened IDF, but from among Israel’s heroic, but under-funded medical personnel.

Flash90

A nurse at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem takes coronavirus tests.

Despite Israel spending far less per citizen on health care than most other OECD member states, somehow our doctors, nurses and medics have managed to make Israel the safest of all corona-stricken countries.

It’s nothing short of a miracle.

And it’s a miracle in which you can play a role.

Nati Shochat/Flash90

Doctors and nurses at Mayanei Hayeshua Hospital treat patients from the hard-hit Orthodox Jewish town of Bnei Barak.

Magen David Adom (MDA), which translates as “Red Star of David” and is the local equivalent of the Red Cross, is the Jewish state’s primary emergency medical response organization.

The medics and ambulance drivers of MDA are literally on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis. In addition to all the calls they would normally receive, MDA teams are tasked with administering COVID-19 tests (sometimes in hostile neighborhoods), treating less severe cases of coronavirus infection at homes and so-called “corona hotels,” and transporting patients to and from hospitals.

Nati Shochat/Flash90

Medical staff takes delivery of a COVID-19 patient from Magen David Adom at Jerusalem’s Shaarei Tzedek Hospital.

My own wife is a midwife at Jerusalem’s largest hospital, and she has more than once shed a tear when describing to me the state of MDA medics as they brought in yet another COVID-19 patient to give birth.

They are exhausted, to say the least. And MDA as an organization is stretched to its absolute limits trying to protect the nation and people of Israel from this invisible threat.

Israel Today has teamed up with MDA and agreed to give a portion of all new Memberships to aid their vital work.

That means YOU can directly support Israel’s frontline soldiers in the war against the coronavirus. All you have to do is SIGN UP TODAY >>

 

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