The Magen David Adom is Israel's only official emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The name means "Red Star of David."

Its staff of 1200, plus 10,000 volunteers, operates 95 stations which in turn operates a fleet of over 700 ambulances nationwide. It serves as an auxillary arm of the Israeli military during times of war.

Since its creation, Magen David Adom is the only emergency medical and disaster service in the world to be denied membership in the International Red Cross (IRC), as it refused to replace its red Star of David emblem with a red cross. Critics of the IRC assert discrimination based on the fact that in the late 1920s all Islamic states were granted membership while using the Islamic Red Crescent as their emblem, citing the same concerns about the cross.

It should be noted however that the concerns of India and the former USSR regarding the use of non Hindu and overtly religious symblols were also dismissed by the ICRC, and their national bodies adopted the Red Cross as their official emblems in order to gain entry.

Critics also note that the IRC also uses the current conflict between Israelis and Arabs as yet another obstacle to Israeli membership, while not applying the same criteria to all others nations in the world mired in conflict and further claim that it is exactly during times of such conflict organizations like the IRC were founded for.

In protest, the American Red Cross has withheld millions in administrative funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Since the mid 1990's there has however been extensive and growing co-operation between the MDA and the ICRC including inter alia.: A 2.2 million US dollar spend on strengthening ties between the two organisations, the signing in 2004 of a 2 year co-operation statement, the permanant placement of an ICRC co-operation officer in MDA headquarters, and extensive support of the MDA's blood bank activities.

External links

• Hatzolah Israel Affiliate of Magen David Adom that provides first response to medical emergencies.
• Magen David Adom official site of MDA America.
• MDA Israel (in English)
• MDA Israel (in Hebrew)
• IRC Discrimination, Jewish Virtual Library
• Canadan Court Denies Charity Status of Israel's Red Star of David
• ICRC page discussing relationship with the MDA