JERUSALEM – With nearly 35 years of rushing to terror attacks and wars, United Hatzalah’s Eli Beer has seen disasters and destruction that the average person can barely imagine.
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But the ongoing war in Israel has even Beer shellshocked, describing himself as broken hearted and in the midst of the most difficult moments of his life.
“I was never so devastated like I am right now, even in the days when I was sick with COVID and thought I was going to die,” Beer told VIN News. “There were never so many Jews killed in one day since the Holocaust as there were on Simchas Torah in Eretz Yisroel.”
United Hatzalah is currently operating at full capacity, its volunteers showing up in their talleisim on Simchas Torah once it became clear that Israel was in the middle of another unexpected war, exactly 50 years and one day since the surprise attacks that launched the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
“I’ve been to the second Lebanon war, the Gulf War and big disasters like Meron,” observed Beer. “We went through all these disasters and this is definitely the worst situation we’ve ever been to, by far. Even people older than me are saying that they never saw anything like this.”
Beer said that as of now, it could be a long haul in Israel. And while messages have been flying on social media asking for medical professionals to come to Israel, Beer has been turning down offers of manpower from those looking to pitch in.
“We don’t need volunteers,” explained Beer. “We have seven million people volunteering in addition to our 7,000 volunteers, with another thousand who are almost finished with their training. Most of the injured have been treated and there are less and less people being injured – we have 100 EMTs for every patient.”
Instead, Beer had other suggestions for those looking to offer assistance. Having given out defibrillators, bulletproof vests, helmets and other basic trauma equipment to the military, United Hatzalah’s warehouses are completely empty and are desperately in need of restocking. And in addition to the war effort, volunteers are still busy responding to requests for help, with 3,000 calls coming in on October 8th, one day after the deathly terror spree.
“We still have our regular emergencies, with babies choking, women needing help and men having heart attacks,” noted Beer.
With over 7,000 volunteers, United Hatzalah has been in the midst of the lifesaving efforts, but has sustained losses of its own. Four volunteers were injured, one is missing, some have family members who were killed while others have family members who remain unaccounted for.
“One of our volunteers from Kiryat Malachi, Maor Shalom – a young man in his forties, he was killed by a direct hit by a terrorist, murdered I would say,” said Beer. “All of these are murders.”
According to Beer, Israel’s big cities are the safest places to be right now, particularly Jerusalem, where even terrorists are leery of risking the wrath of the Arab world by damaging Temple Mount. He advised parents who have children in Jerusalem not to panic, noting that the terror attack was deliberately planned to inspire fear. Similarly, he cautioned people to steer clear of media reports, images or videos being circulated by Hamas, which are being put out to scare Jews in every corner of the world.
“The minute you see Arabic, or hear their music, don’t let anyone look at it – just shut it down,” said Beer. “They want to damage our neshamos and our bodies, because they know they can’t kill us all.”
According to Beer, the recent lack of unity in Israel played a significant role in the bloody terror attack, with Hamas seizing the opportunity to pounce during a time of divisiveness.
“Hashem is with us, but the sinas chinam, baseless hatred, in Eretz Yisroel has been going on for too long, on both sides,” said Beer. “Everyone here is at fault – every one of us is guilty of disrespecting other people. The Bais Hamikdash was destroyed because of this and seeing Jews fighting among ourselves, Hamas saw that we were weak and came to destroy us.”
Even as he attempted to allay the sense of fear that has gripped the hearts of Jews worldwide, Beer warned people away from coming to Israel at this time, particularly those who see “war tourism” as an opportunity to visit troubled areas.
“I am begging all of you to control your desire and your love for Israel,” said Beer. “Don’t come. We don’t need people here who don’t speak the language and don’t know where it is safe to go and we can’t be babysitting people right now. Things are still dangerous and there are still terrorists walking around.”
Instead, Beer asked Jews to offer their support from afar, warning people to be sure to do their due diligence and make sure that any campaigns that they donate to are verified.
“Not everyone who opens a campaign is legitimate so you should check well,” said Beer, offering his personal recommendation that people donate to larger organizations such as United Hatzalah, which encompasses 200 Hatzalah branches from the Golan Heights to Eilat, and Friends of the IDF.
“We need monitors, we need ECGs,” said Beer, taking a call in the midst of this interview to politely turn down and offer from someone wanting to send volunteers to Israel. “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but sending thousands of people won’t help and they will only get in the way.”
“We don’t need anyone,” added Beer. “We would love for you to daven for us, but don’t come. We just don’t have enough bulletproof vests and equipment for you.”
United Hatzalah is currently in the midst of a $20,3000,000 emergency equipment campaign Click here to donate.