The Magen David Adom (Hebrew: מגן דוד אדום, abbr. MDA, pronounced MAH-dah per its Hebrew acronym, מד״א) is Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The literal meaning of the name is "Red Shield of David," but the symbol is more frequently called the "Red Star of David" in many languages. Since June 2006, Magen David Adom has been officially recognized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as the national aid society of the State of Israel under the Geneva Conventions, and a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. MDA has a dedicated medical emergency phone number in Israel, 101.MDA can become an auxiliary arm of the Israel Defense Forces during times of war. In 2022, MDA became academically affiliated with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Following the October 7th attacks against Israel, the American Red Cross presented Magen David Adom with the International Humanitarian Service Award stating that the organization "exemplifies and inspires the humanitarian values of human dignity, respect, [and] compassion."
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Magen David Adom in the context of Emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
Under the Geneva Conventions, the emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are to be worn by all medical and humanitarian personnel and also displayed on their vehicles and buildings while they are in an active warzone, and all military forces operating in an active warzone must not attack entities displaying these emblems. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement recognizes four protection emblems, three of which are in use: the Red Cross (recognized since 1864), the Red Crescent (recognized since 1929), the Red Lion and Sun (recognized since 1929; unused since 1980), and the Red Crystal (recognized since 2005).
The Red Cross was the original protection symbol declared at the First Geneva Convention in 1864. The Red Crescent, which was first used by the Ottoman Empire in the 1870s, and the Red Lion and Sun, which had been used only in Iran between 1924 and 1980, were both formally recognized as protection symbols following a 1929 amendment to the Geneva Conventions. Controversy stemming from the movement's successive rejections of the Red Star of David, which was established in 1899 and has been used only in Israel, led to the creation of the Red Crystal as the fourth protection symbol by a vote in 2005. In 2006, the movement announced that it was officially adopting the Red Crystal as a neutral symbol and that it was also granting formal recognition to Israel's Magen David Adom alongside the Palestine Red Crescent Society.