The Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs, chaired by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, unanimously approved a bill unifying emergency phone numbers and dispatch centers across Israel.
The bill to create a single, unified phone number for medical emergencies was submitted to the 24th Knesset by then Health Committee Chair MK Idit Silman (Yamina), MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), and MK Yinon Azoulay (Shas) and approved at the time in its first reading. Following the dispersal of the Knesset, it was approved unanimously once again by the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs, and will now be submitted for an initial Knesset plenum vote.
Delighted with the progress of the bill, United Hatzalah President and Founder Eli Beer said: “We welcome this decision. We have advocated for this bill for a long time to improve the country’s emergency medical response system and call on everyone involved to make this bill a priority to ensure that circumstances do not once again prevent its full approval and implementation. It will save many lives in Israel.”
United Hatzalah CEO Eli Pollack said: “As an organization that is dedicated to saving lives, the efficient and timely flow of information is critical to us to ensure that it reaches the medical personnel throughout the country in real-time. We welcome the approval of the bill yesterday in the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs. I would like to thank the Chairman of the Finance Committee, MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni, for bringing it forward to the Committee, the Minister of Environmental Protection Idit Silman, and the Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs, Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, for pushing for the unanimous approval of this important bill.”
