Paul Calvert chats with Eli Beer, the founder of United Hatzalah

Eli: Well it was an incredible feeling, when I landed in Israel the airport was shut down so they had to open the airport especially for a favor for one of the most incredible people I know Dr Miriam Andleson. She took care of me and she sent a plane to pick me up, she owns planes and she and her husband cared about my situation so they actually helped me get back here. When I got back and landed in the land of Israel, it's so holy here, I felt an incredible energy coming into my body, I told my family I was crying and I said a special prayer Shema Israel (Hear, O Israel). When I landed I saw Jerusalem and I said a special prayer to God for letting me live. It was a battle you know and I feel lucky that I am back in this country.

Paul: It must have been special coming back into the office since that?

Eli: Oh yeah, when I came back here I said to all my friends, "Please don't do a ceremony, don't do a ceremony I just want to come back normally". They all waited for me on the roof, it was beautiful to see as the mountain is Samuel's tomb and being here it's such a beautiful place in the centre of Jerusalem and being with the volunteers that are always making sure that they are ready to save other people. So the energy here is incredible, I was happy to be back.

Paul: I imagine it costs a lot of money to run this organisation, do people from all around the world sponsor a motor bike?

Eli: I had an incredible experience. A person in Miami heard my situation and he was so moved away. He is actually an evangelical person, loves Israel, loves humanity and he went ahead and he wrote a post to his friends saying how he wants to raise a bike and he raised enough money to buy an ambucycle and it was just incredible.

Paul: Would you like to see this all around the world?

Eli: Yes, actually we help start this in many countries around the world and I would love this idea a volunteers ambucycles technology spread everywhere around the world and United Hatzalah has the potential of helping everyone start this. It's so simple: get volunteers, train them and then they should just respond to emergencies and just be there until the ambulance shows up. Easy!

Paul: Why do you do what you do?

Eli: Because I love saving people's lives, it's my passion, I always have done since I was 15 years old. I saw the need when I was 6 years old when I saw the bomb attack and I realised how easy it is and it's like an addiction once you save one life you want to save more. It says in the Torah, "You save one life, you save the entire world." So could you imagine every time I save a life, it's an entire world and why stop if you are successful in saving lives, just continue doing it.

Paul: What is your prayer finally for the future of the organisation?

Eli: My prayer is that people should never get sick, never get ill, never get injuries that is my prayer, but if someone does we should be there on time to save that person and that is what I want. I want to make sure that our volunteers doesn't have work because people don't get sick, but if people do we will be there fast enough and really now that the Covid 19 hit the whole world and we see how fragile this world is, with one little disease you could destroy the world. We have to care more about each other, love more each other and think how to fight these diseases by cooperation between religions, in cultures and countries and put our focus in that instead of focusing in politics and stuff. So hopefully Israel is a connecting point for all religions, it says "The word of God comes out from Israel, from Zion". That's what it says, the word of God comes out of Zion, that is where most of the great religions started from. So I really hope that this situation now will make this world more connected to fight terrible things.

Paul: And what is your website for people who'd like to know more, perhaps someone would like to sponsor a motorcycle themselves, or a church would like to sponsor a motorcycle, tell us your website?

Eli: Oh, that is great, I would love to have people in churches sponsor Ambucycles. Our website is www.israelrescue.org and people can go there to learn more. My email address is eli@israelrescue.org and people can send me an email if they want to sponsor anything. We have a lot of different ways of being a part of this thing and I really hope that this idea could be implemented everywhere in the world, and anyone who wants to be a part of saving lives in this country in Israel could be part of United Hatzalah.