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ISRAEL MAGAZINE-ON-WEB: October 1997
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Israel and the International Red Cross
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Israel, as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, is a member of the
International Red Cross. Its first-aid organization, "Magen David Adom",
is represented by the red Star of David ("Magen David"). However, due to
Israel's insistance on retaining its unique symbol, its status in the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has
remained that of observer only. (The Geneva Conventions currently
recognize only two symbols: the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.)
Israel fully complies with the ten conditions for recognition of national
societies, with the exception of paragraph 5: the requirement to use the
name and symbol of the Red Cross or Red Crescent. Israel's efforts to
obtain recognition for the symbol of "Magen David Adom" has continued
throughout the years, since 1949.
At the IRC meeting held in Birmingham, England in October 1993, an
Advisory Committee was established to review the organizational and
statutory timeliness of the organization, including its symbols. A meeting
of the Red Cross societies will be held at the end of November 1997. The
societies will recommend to the International Conference (scheduled to
convene at the end of 1999) several solutions to the problem of the
symbol, among them the adoption of a uniform symbol (red diamond), within
which the individual national societies can include particular national
symbols. This solution is in principle acceptable to Israel.
In the meantime, "Magen David Adom" continues to maintain good de facto
working relations with the Swiss ICR and its representative in Israel, as
well as with the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.
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