United Hatzalah is Israel’s largest independent, non-profit volunteer emergency medical service that serves anyone in need of care, entirely for free. Our mission is to save lives in Israel, and at times around the world, by responding to medical emergencies within the first critical minutes of a medical crisis.  We do not charge our patients any fee for our services.  Our 8,600+ volunteers – including EMTs, paramedics, doctors and other specialists – respond at a moment’s notice, dropping everything to respond when the call comes.

United Hatzalah volunteers provide lifesaving medical care on the scene, prior to the arrival of an ambulance. Our volunteers treat and stabilize the patient, and then work with the arriving ambulance crew for further treatment and hospital transport.

By arriving as quickly as possible, United Hatzalah is able to provide critical life-saving care before an ambulance arrives. We proudly serve all people in Israel, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, and others. Our volunteers reflect this same diversity.  They come from all areas of Israeli society – they are truck drivers, police officers, lawyers, bankers, business owners and beyond. They are secular and religious; male and female; Jewish and non-Jewish.  Every year, this lifesaving work requires significant investment in training, equipment, vehicles, and technology to ensure that help arrives fast enough to make the difference in the moments following an emergency call that separate life from death.

United Hatzalah receives an average of 14,400 emergency calls per week across Israel. This average excludes recent periods when an elevated number of calls were received due to the war in Gaza.

United Hatzalah volunteers are dispersed throughout Israel and serve in the areas where they work, study and live.  As soon as United Hatzalah’s dispatch receives a call, our dispatch system immediately identifies the volunteers closest to the incident and dispatches them to respond.  A volunteer could be working in an office building downtown and might receive a call to help a heart attack victim from the very same building.  Similarly, a volunteer at home could be dispatched to respond to an emergency down the street, next door, or even in the very same apartment complex where they live.  The key to this fast response combines United Hatzalah’s cutting edge technology with our highly trained and dedicated volunteers.  The more volunteers, the faster the response.

UH is focused on reducing response times by increasing our network of volunteer medics, expanding our fleet of emergency vehicles (especially ambucycles and electric bikes) and utilizing proprietary technology (e.g. AI).  Our goal is to reach every patient within 90 seconds of a call where time is of the essence to save lives from a heart attack, stroke, anaphylactic shock, choking or bleeding.  We are not there yet in enough cases – and we are working every day to get closer to our goal of 90 second universal coverage.  Actual response times vary depending on location, traffic, density of a volunteer(s) near the patient and the type of emergency.

Not yet. There are some areas where we are near to achieving our goal of consistent 90 second response time coverage. There are some areas where we are far — even much too far — from having done so. Fortunately, we are situated to improve in those areas. Our team in Israel, using the systems we have built, knows exactly (to the neighborhood level and even the time of day) where we need to get stronger (and in some places much stronger). And they also know how to become better, faster and stronger. This involves training volunteers who live and/or work in the vicinity, deploying the most appropriate types of vehicles to ensure speed and building community among the volunteers so that recruitment — which leads to deployment, which decreases response time — will be most easily facilitated.

We are especially appreciative of the donors who have contributed funds to specifically enable us to significantly amplify our capability in the areas where the number of volunteers, and consequently the response time, needs to be increased.

United Hatzalah has more than 8,600 trained volunteers across Israel, supported by a national network of over 1,800 emergency vehicles, including ambucycles (a motorbike that is equipped with the most essential lifesaving supplies and can avoid many traffic delays), electric bikes, ambucars, ambulances, and other specialized emergency response vehicles. Every volunteer is fully trained, equipped, and ready to respond when needed in their communities.

Our volunteers respond to the full spectrum of emergencies including: cardiac incidents such as heart attacks, cardiac arrest, chest pain, arrhythmias, and other life-threatening conditions; trauma and accidents, including car crashes and falls; neurological emergencies such as strokes; choking and bleeding incidents requiring immediate intervention; obstetric emergencies, including deliveries, pregnancy complications, and miscarriages; terrorist attacks and national emergencies; mental anguish and suicidal thoughts; pediatric cases including allergic reactions, cardiac arrest, drowning, and other life-threatening conditions.

Each case is classified by its chief complaint (reason).  Our system records when volunteers are responding to calls and what interventions are performed.  When multiple volunteers respond to a call, UH records the response as a single call.

We dispatch multiple volunteers to the same call based on a predetermined algorithm which locates the closest and most appropriate volunteer based on the level of certification and expertise of the responder.  This is automated and happens immediately upon call categorization and severity of the condition of the patient.  This is crucial for accident scenes (where first responders must be prepared to treat multiple victims simultaneously), cardiac and other advanced life support responses, pregnancy related cases (which require multiple female responders), all cases potentially involving stabilization or transport, and others.  

United Hatzalah provides emergency medical care to everyone and anyone in Israel, entirely free of charge.

Every gift to United Hatzalah directly impacts our lifesaving activities. There are various ways to contribute to UH:

Unrestricted Giving – These donations provide the backbone of our operations. They fund the infrastructure, technology, logistics, and supplies that every volunteer depends on when responding to emergencies.  Sponsoring a “Day of Lifesaving” supports the thousands of emergency calls our volunteers answer daily.  Without this core support, none of our lifesaving work would be possible.

Restricted Giving – Many donors choose to direct their contributions toward specific and tangible larger purposes.  Examples include sponsoring a vehicle (ambucycle, an electric bike or ambulance), training a volunteer, or a regional volunteer center (Beit HaMitnadev).  The donation amount for vehicles generally includes the various costs of equipping, operating and maintaining the vehicle for a specified period of time.  Donors are informed of the specific vehicle they have donated and receive communication about the volunteer who uses the vehicle and specific emergencies that the volunteer has responded to with the vehicle.

Capital Projects & Endowment – Some donors sustain United Hatzalah over the long term by investing in major capital projects, such as our Jerusalem HQ, Sderot Regional Command Center, and our Katzrin Regional Command Center, or our endowment.  These gifts strengthen our ability to grow, innovate, and ensure our network of volunteers can continue saving lives for generations.

Together, these different types of giving create a complete lifesaving ecosystem spanning responses, sustained volunteer support, and long-term organizational resilience.

United Hatzalah is supported by donors in many countries and, like other similar Israeli not-for-profits, our financials are complex.  United Hatzalah Israel receives funds in part from a global network of “Friends of United Hatzalah” organizations located in the U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Switzerland, and Australia, as well as its own fundraising and activities in Israel.  Support from these different countries reflects how UH has a truly global donor base.

Each regional “Friends of” organization is its own independent legal entity, with its own Board of Directors complying with all local regulations, and prepares its own financial statements in its local currency.  Funds raised by “Friends of” organizations are transferred directly to United Hatzalah of Israel to support its mission at the direction of the local Board of Directors.  The Boards of Friends of UH entities in various countries decide the timing of the transfers to Israel based on close coordination with United Hatzalah Israel in order to address the funding requirements in Israel as determined by UH management and approved by the Board in Israel.  United Hatzalah Israel maintains bank accounts only in the country of Israel. Transfers made from “Friends of” organizations, as well as funds from private foundations and other entities, are considered “donations from abroad.”

In 2023, United Hatzalah Israel (the operating organization on the ground) recorded $144M (533M ILS) of support under Israeli accounting standards. A significant portion came from Friends of United Hatzalah U.S., in the form of donations and transfers, and from other international “Friends of” entities and donations raised in Israel.

This $144M is comprised of:

• Revenue (P&L): $78M (288M ILS), which includes cash donations raised in Israel, a portion of transfers from Friends of United Hatzalah entities (including Friends of United Hatzalah in the U.S.), government and municipal support ($2.6M / 9.5M ILS in 2023), sales and services in Israel, and the required non-cash accounting value of volunteer service.
• Restricted funds (Balance Sheet): $66M (245M ILS), recorded as assets set aside for future use, per Israeli accounting standards. These funds are not included in current-year revenue but are tracked transparently to ensure they are applied to donor-designated purposes.

For consistency, Shekel amounts are converted to U.S. Dollars using the average exchange rate for the year.

Friends of United Hatzalah and other international “Friends of” entities ensure that the majority of every donor dollar goes directly to charitable programs and grants.  Our goal is to maintain at least 80% spent on charitable programs and 20% on fundraising and administrative expenses, which is the best-practice standard recognized by Charity Navigator (a charity assessment organization that evaluates more than 200,000 charitable organizations based in the United States) and other nonprofit watchdogs.

As noted in Charity Navigator and based on the Forms 990 publicly filed by Friends of United Hatzalah through year-end 2024, our program expense ratio shows that over 85% of our spending over the past three years has supported supported lifesaving operations such as training volunteers, equipping medics, expanding the fleet of ambucycles, and running our 24/7 dispatch center.  The October 7th campaign brought in record amounts, which were carefully allocated between immediate operations, restricted emergency reserves, and future needs.

Our commitment remains clear: United Hatzalah commits to using donor funds responsibly, with the overwhelming share directly supporting and impacting lifesaving efforts in the field.

United Hatzalah is committed to honoring donor intent and ensuring that gifts are used for the purpose for which they were given.  We track every donation from the time it is donated until the purpose is fulfilled, whether that’s dedicating an ambucycle, electric bike, or ambulance, delivering protective vests and helmets for the volunteers, equipping our volunteers with defibrillators and oxygen tanks, or any other purpose.  We use Salesforce as our CRM, which allows us to track individual donations and follow them from the time they are donated until we report back to the donor on the specific impact of that donation.  In the last 12 months we have sent over 2,300 personalized email updates to donors about the impact of their donation, ensuring we keep thousands of donors informed about the specific use of their donated funds.

The International Committee of United Hatzalah, together with the Israel management team, have devoted considerable time to analyzing various ways to deploy the significant capital that was raised following October 7th.  Based on this strategic planning process and subsequent discussions, UH has focused on specific priorities.

United Hatzalah’s major budget priorities for 2025 include: training additional volunteers across Israel; build a Resiliency Center to support the expansion of United Hatzalah’s psychotrauma program to treat volunteers and the general public; invest in advanced dispatch, communications, and cybersecurity systems and AI; expand our fleet of ambucycles and other emergency response vehicles; strengthen regional command centers for faster response; and ensuring volunteers have the supplies and support they need.

The list of medical equipment and supplies that United Hatzalah purchases for our volunteers to use in saving lives runs into the hundreds, but some of the most important are: vehicles, defibrillators, oxygen tanks, protective vests and helmets, medic bags, medication, bandages, tourniquets, epipens, scissors, gauze, drones, communication devices, dispatch systems, generators, and much more.  The capital projects we are currently undertaking or planning include: renovating and expanding our National Lifesaving Headquarters in Jerusalem, building a regional command center in Sderot and a regional command center in Katzrin, building local regional command centers in Natanya and Beit Shemesh, building a National Logistics Center, and renovating regional Beit Hamitnadevs (volunteer houses).

The reason for all this investment in training, equipment, supplies, capital projects, and emergency response preparedness is to support our goal of reducing response time across Israel and in response to the lessons we’ve learned from October 7th.  In order to be fully prepared to respond to another national crisis, United Hatzalah must have equipment and logistics capabilities in every part of Israel, must have the right technology solutions to respond to a national emergency, and must train our volunteers to have the knowledge and skills to respond in such a crisis.

Any funds raised beyond those immediately needed to be spent are placed in reserve accounts, including operating reserves, donor-restricted reserves, board-designated funds or emergency reserves.  These funds are protected, tracked separately, and used only for their intended purpose supporting the UH mission.  All funds raised and placed into reserve funds can be seen either on the local “Friends of” balance sheet or on the United Hatzalah Israel balance sheet (they are not moved between “Friends of” entities). The local Boards of Directors of each “Friends of” entity is responsible for preparing their financial statements, maintaining bank accounts, ensuring compliance with local tax and regulatory bodies, and deciding on the amounts and timing of the transfer of funds raised to UH Israel.  In certain countries local accounting principles require pledges made by donors to be booked as revenue, even if they are not paid that calendar year, which means that the revenue reported is based on accrual based accounting and not actual cash received by the organization.

To ensure long-term sustainability, the Board of Friends of United Hatzalah in the U.S. has made building reserves a priority for the organization: at the end of 2024, Friends of United Hatzalah had established an operational reserve of $23.6M and an endowment of $10.7M.

The current size of the endowment held in Friends of United Hatzalah in the U.S. is equal to approximately 12% of the budget of United Hatzalah, making support of UH highly vulnerable to an economic downturn. If the endowment were to yield the customary assumed rate of 5%, our endowment would generate <1% of United Hatzalah’s annual budget.

Hence, we need to raise significant funds anew every year as well as build our endowment. United Hatzalah is very fortunate to have a very broad base of deeply committed supporters.  It is because of their support, which is needed to sustain operations each year, that our volunteers are able to be so active.  The goal of all our fundraising efforts is to ensure that the life-saving work of United Hatzalah can continue every day of the year in Israel, through economic cycles, and through the generations.

Our four most recent Form 990 documents can be found here:

2021 990 Friends of United Hatzalah (US)

2022 990 Friends of United Hatzalah (US)

2023 990 Friends of United Hatzalah (US)

2024 990 Friends of United Hatzalah (US)

United Hatzalah Israel is governed by its fiduciary board in Israel – the Amutah and its seven member Vaad: Dr. Efrat Baron Harlev, Eli Yaakobi, Moti Barzilay, Daniel Yacoby, Michael Hamelsdorf, Yaron Timor and Yaron Carni. Each “Friends of” entity outside of Israel also has its own independent fiduciary board, complying with all local regulations. 12 Board members from the different “Friends of” organizations serve on the International Committee, including two members of the Israel Vaad.  The International Committee is charged with reviewing and assessing United Hatzalah’s budget and major activities.  The Committee then submits a recommendation to the Amutah Board, which exercises its responsibility as the governing body in Israel. 

The SFI Group, which is a public benefit company that brings a fresh approach to addressing social challenges in Israel, has given UH its Midot Seal of Effectiveness each of the last three years, which is an evaluation and recognition process.  The Midot Seal for Effectiveness examines and evaluates a nonprofit’s competence and ability to create social value and bring about positive change while utilizing its resources most effectively.  The evaluation method was developed specifically for this purpose to rate the nonprofit’s managerial capabilities.  The metrics include planning, execution, measurement and learning, leadership, and finances.  The rating process helps promote optimal practices within the organization while serving as a public seal of approval for nonprofits.

The Midot Seal certifies nonprofits that demonstrate efficiency, transparency, and significant social impact. Importantly, it is the nonprofit’s own choice to apply and undergo this process.

Eli Beer is the Founder of United Hatzalah Israel.

The CEO of United Hatzalah Israel is Prof. Ehud Davidson. He has served as the CEO of Meir Medical Center, CEO of Soroka University Medical Center, Deputy Director General and Head of the Hospital Division of Clalit Health Services, and Director General of Clalit Health Services (Clalit Health Services is Israel’s largest healthcare provider, serving over 4.7 million members). He joined United Hatzalah in August 2024.

Eli Beer is one of the 15 founders of Hatzalah Jerusalem, which was later renamed Hatzalah Israel. Years later, Eli united the majority of the separate Hatzalah organizations in Israel into what eventually became known as United Hatzalah Israel.

Eli founded United Hatzalah Israel in 2006 and currently serves as Founder, where he focuses on driving the strategy of UH, representing UH internally and externally as its chief spokesperson, leading UH’s fundraising efforts globally, etc.  Eli is also the President of Friends of United Hatzalah. Eli travels extensively, is frequently in the media and meets volunteers, donors, and government officials in Israel and abroad.

Eli was born in Israel to American parents, and at a young age, he witnessed his first terror attack. This traumatic experience inspired him to become a volunteer medic, and he has been involved in emergency medical response since 1988, starting at the age of 15.  With over three decades of experience, Eli has responded to some of Israel’s most challenging civil, wartime, and terror-related incidents.

On October 7th, Eli oversaw a force of volunteer EMTs, medics, paramedics, and doctors from United Hatzalah who responded to the Hamas terrorist attacks, treating over 3,000 victims on that day and in the days that followed.  He managed a command center, dispatching over 1,500 volunteers to the Gaza periphery and coordinated efforts with the government, police, and hospitals to save lives.

Eli revolutionized emergency medical services by disrupting the traditional EMS model through the introduction of the “ambucycle”—a motorcycle equipped with medical supplies.  These are used by volunteers who are dispersed throughout the country and can use the ambucycles for their daily needs, allowing them to respond to emergencies within minutes, faster than traditional ambulances.

Eli’s ultimate vision is for a United Hatzalah volunteer to be able to reach any person in Israel within 90 seconds of receiving an emergency call.  He was also the first to implement the concept of first responders providing immediate psychological support after traumatic incidents, founding the Psychotrauma Unit. (Here is an incredible video of one of our psychotrauma  volunteers on October 7th).

In addition to his role at United Hatzalah, Eli Beer is a renowned social entrepreneur and speaker, recognized globally for his humanitarian efforts.  He has received numerous awards, including Social Entrepreneur of the Year in Israel and the Israel President’s Prize from President Shimon Peres, for advancing lifesaving technologies and fostering cooperation across diverse communities.

His personal story—including surviving a near-death experience from COVID-19—is captured in his biography, “90 Seconds,” which chronicles his journey from a young boy with a dream to the leader of the fastest EMS service in the world.

After October 7, UH raised a significant amount of money, and we knew we had to be fully accountable to our donors, deploying funds thoughtfully while ensuring proper governance and safeguards were in place.  We brought in an international firm (pro bono) to assess our processes and governance to ensure we were aligned globally in how best to maximize the productivity of the funds in line with our mission of minimizing response time and saving lives.

United Hatzalah is dedicated to best practices in our governance, professionalism and transparency.  We are committed to continuous learning and improvement across the organization.  We appointed a new CEO and CFO in the past 15 months to grow our skill base and experience.  We appointed a new International Committee to provide greater oversight and alignment.  We also tightened financial controls and created a structured process for capital allocation – no capital commitments can be made without board involvement and approval.

United Hatzalah of Israel financial statements are audited by Lion, Orlitzky & Co., one of Israel’s leading accounting firms. Friends of United Hatzalah in the U.S. financial statements are audited by BDO. “Friends of” entities prepare local financial statements and have them reviewed and audited in accordance with their Board’s determination and local regulations and practices.