Eli Beer, the president of Israel’s United Hatzalah ambulance service, who is currently hospitalized in serious condition in Miami after contracting the coronavirus, lambastes Health Minister Yaakov Litzman from his hospital bed.
Health minister Yaakov Litzman speaks during a press conference at the Prime Ministers office in Jerusalem on March 12, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90
Litzman has refused to allow Hatzalah’s 6,000 volunteers to play any role in assisting the Health Ministry and Magen David Adom (MDA) with conducting virus tests. He recently argued in a Channel 12 interview that Hatzalah staff were “less professional” than MDA staff.
“He is a vengeful person, an evil person,” Beer says in a video message. “I really hope he isn’t health minister in the next government. The man has been fighting United Hatzalah for several years. A bad man without a good heart, who only looks out for his own interests.”
Litzman’s office responds by wishing Beer a speedy recovery and adding that “Magen David Adom is the State of Israel’s national emergency organization, and as such is the only organization authorized to manage emergency situations. If it requires reinforcement it can operate any other body that meets the criteria.
“Attempts to smear the activity of Israel’s emergency apparatus with false statements should be rejected.”
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 23, 2020
