WATCH: Documentary Showing United Hatzalah’s Heroism on October 7th has Lapid Crediting Volunteers for Attitude Shift in Israel

JERUSALEM – The long-standing divide between Israel’s secular and haredi communities continues to grow ever narrower, with the country’s highest watched current affairs show broadcasting a video showing how three United Hatzolah volunteers managed to save hundreds of lives during the barbaric October 7th terror attacks.

Uvda, described by Variety as “the local equivalent to CBS News’ 60 Minutes”, ran a segment on November 2nd that featured United Hatzalah members Avi and Avi, who jumped into their ambulance along with their partner Emmanuel on October 7th. Because it was both Shabbos and yom tov, the volunteers kept their radio off as they headed south, completely unaware that they were about to enter a full-fledged war zone.

The nearly 23 minute video uses footage from their ambulance’s front and rear cameras to provide a first hand look at the devastation that greeted the emergency first responders as neared ground zero, unaware that ambulances were being hit with gunfire and that EMTs had been killed in Ofakim. That reality was keeping rescue teams out of the battle zones and when Avi, Avi and Emmanuel first arrived at the Cheletz junction, less than five miles north of Sderot, they were instructed to park their ambulance and wait for the injured to arrive.

Ignoring his instructions, driver Avi Gian continued past the junction. United Hatzalah dispatchers contacted him on his radio, reminding him that he was told not to proceed any further.

“If I go out on Shabbat, I go out to save lives,” explained Gian in the Uvda video. “I don’t go out to wait at the Cheletz junction.”

The situation at the time required a delicate balance, United Hatzalah founder and president Eli Beer told VIN News.

“United Hatzalah operated from the very first minutes,” said Beer. “We had hundreds of volunteers, and hundreds more who wanted to join. But we had to be very careful. We already had two members who had been murdered, two volunteers who had been kidnapped and six volunteers’ kids kidnapped.”

Avi, Avi and Emmanuel were aboard Ambulance 54, which has a special place in Beer’s heart, having been donated by the Laulicht family of South Florida in his honor when he was critically ill with COVID. Deciding what to tell Gian was a decision that Beer described as one of the most difficult of his life.

“We knew Avi was lying when he told us that they were being covered by a special forces team,” recalled Beer. “But also we knew that they were the kind of people who never say no, and that they wanted to go save Jewish people.”

The United Hatzalah dispatcher warned Ambulance 54 that it was heading towards a war, his words a grim warning.

“I understand that you don’t want to come back alive,” said the dispatcher. “Have a good day.”

As the minutes raced by Avi, Avi and Emanuel continued towards the ominous plumes of fire that were coming from the Sderot area. Everywhere they went on Highway 232, they saw incredible numbers of wounded and burning car, with a steady stream of calls coming in from Magen David Adom dispatch centers. Zigzagging past dead bodies dotting the roadway that were clearly beyond help, they closed in on the hardest hit areas. The only other ambulances as they continued driving were armored vehicles.

“Only United Hatzalah and the army were there,” noted Beer. “We brought in two helicopters, and ours were the first ones to show up in the south. We had no choice – this is a war, and if soldiers and paramedics don’t work, then it is over.”

Over the course of the day, Ambulance 54 led the way, making countless trips in and out of the battle zone. Beer’s wife Gitty was on one of the ambulances that followed Avi, Avi and Emmanuel to Kfar Aza, where the injured were lined up and waiting to be evacuated to nearby hospitals.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to see my wife again,” admitted Beer. “We knew we were in a terrible war. We were getting hundreds of calls from women begging us to save their children, telling us that they had hidden them in the bomb shelter or the attic. One woman told us that she was going to die, but she wanted us to save her child, who she had hidden in the washing machine. In a situation like that, how could I say no to Avi or to my wife?”

Avi, Avi and Emmanuel’s day finally ended when their physical stamina ultimately gave out. All told, they are credited with saving hundreds of people, but none of the team on Ambulance 54 ever expected to see what came next after the video documenting their efforts on October 7th aired on Uvda. People started coming up to them on the street and thanking them for their efforts and they received a similar reaction when they visited the Knesset, where Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid told them that they had singlehandedly changed the way secular Israelis viewed their charedi counterparts.

Taking to social media, Lapid retweeted a post by Israeli journalist Ishay Coen that showed a picture of him with Avi, Avi and Emmanuel bearing the words, “Opposition head Yair Lapid to United Hatzalah volunteers Avi, Avi and Emmanuel ‘There aren’t a lot of things that this war will change forever, but one of them will be the way that haredim and secular Israelis look at each other.’”

Lapid followed up Coen’s tweet with one of his own that said, “Only after they left did I understand that I didn’t tell them how the secular Israelis view them today: With love. With respect and honor. With gratitude.”