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.

He noted that Hamas had deliberately targeted MDA ambulances and personnel on October 7, with combat manuals detailing plans to sabotage its operations, and that numerous medics were murdered and ambulances destroyed that day.

Greenblatt also warned of the global spread of antisemitism, saying antisemitic incidents in Australia had surged nearly 400 per cent over five years and that 20 Jewish people had been murdered worldwide in 2025, one of the worst years for the community since the Holocaust.

He urged the room to “speak out, seek accountability and step up”, and said the whole world was watching the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion to see whether its recommendations would match the scale of the problem and be implemented.

MDA paramedic Aryeh Myers, who has lived in Israel for 14 years, described the service’s response to recent conflict. During Operation Roaring Lion, he said, MDA had received no advance notice but deployed almost 2000 ambulances and intensive care units within minutes, treating about 2500 casualties as ballistic missiles struck Israeli cities.

He described paramedics shielding patients with their own bodies and leaving shelters during red alerts to perform CPR.

Myers said the Bondi attack had occurred while he was showing an Australian family through MDA’s blood services facility in Israel. Weeks later, he was asked to join the medical team that flew to Sydney to bring home Bitton, who was shot multiple times after running to confront the gunmen.

He recounted holding a minyan on the flight home. “Our 10th man was Gefen, and as we got to the Shema prayer, despite all the medications he was on, despite the pain he was in, he put his hands on his eyes, and he said Shema with us.

“That is the essence of the Jewish people … and it is absolutely the essence of Magen David Adom.”

AFMDA president Tony Ziegler presented two awards on the evening.

He honoured Tamara Lowbeer for 19 years of service to the organisation, describing her as “the reassuring voice on the telephone” behind countless events and donor relationships.

He also recognised the Magid family as Bob Magid – publisher of this masthead – stepped down as patron, paying tribute to the family’s years of support, including donations of ambulances, medi­cycles and rapid response vehicles.

More info: magendavidadom.org.au