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.”
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Monday, March 23, 2020
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