MDA delays closing West Bank ambulance stations amid budget cut

NIS 5.5 million cut in Health Ministry contribution forced rescue organization to consider major cuts to services over Green Line; residents warn lives will be lost

The Magen David Adom rescue service has agreed to delay by several weeks a planned reduction in its ambulance service in the West Bank brought on by a Health Ministry budget cut, it said Wednesday.

MDA was slated to begin scaling back its services starting March 3 after the Health Ministry slashed NIS 5.5 million ($1.52 million) from its contribution to the rescue organization.

According to a letter sent by MDA to the Health Ministry last month and first reported on by the Ynet news site, the group warned that the budget cut would force it to reduce its operating hours in the West Bank and shutter ambulance stations in Dolev, Elkana, Shavey Shomron, Tekoa and the Megilot Regional Council on the shores of the Dead Sea, an area that has seen some of the country’s deadliest car accidents in recent months.

The closures would mean longer wait times for rescuers in emergencies.

MDA lamented the planned closures, saying the IDF’s medical staff in the affected areas would have to take over the rescue activities.

Scene of deadly crash on Route 90 near the Dead Sea, October 30, 2018. (Courtesy MDA)

On Wednesday evening, MDA announced it had delayed the closures plan until March 24 in order to hold new rounds of consultations with government officials over restoring the lost funding.

The closures plan, when it was announced last month, drew the ire of West Bank settlement mayors and the Yesha Council, the main settlement advocacy group, which urged Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and officials in the Prime Minister’s Office to restore MDA’s funds. Failure to do so, they warned, could cost the lives of residents and drivers in the affected areas.

The delay will allow officials from the Health Ministry, PMO and MDA to meet to attempt to resolve the crisis, according to officials. The Yesha Council is also expected to be part of the discussions.

Yesha Council chair Hananel Dorani welcomed the decision to delay the closures, saying Wednesday, “I’m grateful to the Prime Minister’s Bureau and the deputy health minister for pushing this issue. We can’t let the lives of the residents of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley hang in the balance because of a budget debate. We will continue to follow this issue until the decision is completely canceled.”