For the second time, Magen David Adom’s vexatious request to have United Hatzalah’s emergency number of 1221 canceled in an effort to stop the dispatching service from the emergency group was denied by Israel’s High Court of Justice, which consists of three justices.
The High Court’s decision on Monday afternoon represents the second time that MDA has petitioned the court in an effort to have the younger EMS organization’s license revoked and to prevent it from offering services to Israeli citizens.
In 2010, United Hatzalah received an abbreviated number in order to improve the efficiency of its dispatch center, in accordance with the interministerial committee’s suggestion for allocating shortened numbers to emergency hotlines. MDA has been adamantly opposed to the company having an emergency number ever since.
The High Court dismissed the first petition after it was submitted in December 2019 and in the spring of 2020. The High Court of Justice once again denied the second petition, which MDA filed earlier this year.
Eli Pollack, the CEO of UH, expressed his appreciation for the court’s ruling, saying: “I applaud the court’s decision, which saw before it the public good, the importance of the organization’s work, and how crucial our dispatch number is.
For the benefit of the inhabitants of the State of Israel, we will continue to provide the fastest emergency medical response at no cost to them by making the number 1221 available around the clock, seven days a week.
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