Greenblatt headlines Magen David Adom event

Australian Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA) launched a campaign to fund two ambulances in honour of the victims, families and first responders of the December 14 Bondi Beach Chanukah massacre, at the organisation’s event in Sydney last week.

Wednesday night’s event was addressed by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Israeli paramedic Aryeh Myers, who flew wounded Bondi hero Gefen Bitton home to Israel.

The evening, held at Central Synagogue, raised funds towards two four-wheel-drive ambulances for MDA, Israel’s national emergency medical, blood and disaster response service. AFMDA CEO Craig Boss said each vehicle would carry a dedication to “the victims, survivors and first responders of the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach”, turning grief into “life-saving action for someone we will never meet”.

AFMDA vice-president Melissa McCurdie told the event she had visited Israel earlier this year and seen the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, including a field of bullet-ridden and burnt-out vehicles near Sderot and destroyed MDA ambulances draped with white flags. In total, she said, 16 MDA ambulances had been destroyed on or since October 7.

Greenblatt praised MDA’s ethos of treating anyone in need regardless of background. He said MDA medics “don’t ask who you are before they help you”, treating “Israeli or Palestinian, Druze or Bedouin, Jew, Christian or Muslim” alike.