Armored ambulance campaign: Keeping memory of the fallen alive

An ambulance, with its red lights flashing and siren blaring, signifies that help is on the way to someone hurt or ill, someone about to give birth, or someone in danger of death.

Terrorist attacks on ambulances cruelly ensure that help cannot reach an emergency scene, that the suffering will continue, and the situation may end in unthinkable tragedy.

Having suffered their own unthinkable tragedy – their son St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Nitai Meisels fell in battle on December 24 during a mission to locate hostages in northern Gaza – Eytan and Ayala Meisels of Rehovot decided to commemorate Nitai by donating a bulletproof ambulance to be stationed in Eli, where Nitai’s brother Aviad volunteers as a Magen David Adom ambulance driver.

The initiative was later extended to also commemorate Eli resident Maj. (res.) Amishar Ben David, the 18th alumnus of the Bnei David pre-army IDF preparatory yeshiva in Eli killed in the line of duty since Oct. 7. Amishar fell on March 8 in Khan Yunis.

The Israeli Friends of MDA crowdfunding campaign for the bulletproof ambulance has a goal of NIS 1.2 million.

Nitai, a 30-year-old bachelor, and Amishar, a 43-year-old father of five, were dedicated medical response volunteers with MDA.

Nitai was just 16 and a leader in the Religious Scouts when he began volunteering at the Rehovot MDA station. Over the years, he completed a training course for multiple casualty events, and occasionally served on the intensive care ambulance team.

“Nitai was the first to help anyone in need,” said Ayala Meisels about her youngest child, who was born in Baltimore while his family was there during Eytan’s post-doctoral studies.

He served in the Armored Corps, after which he studied psychology at Tel-Hai College, and then worked at Elbit Systems.

During his college years, she said, Nitai would voluntarily enlist for a day of reserve duty whenever possible, serving in an elite tank unit. “Giving and caring for others was a very essential part of Nitai’s character.”

On the morning of Oct. 7, Nitai took a shift with MDA, moving from one site where missiles had hit to another. At one point, his parents were told, Nitai came across a woman who was out walking when a siren sounded. Seeing her distress, he escorted her home and into her safe room.

“During that day he was called up for reserve duty, and toward evening he was already in the Tze’elim [Ground Forces training] base [in the Negev] as part of the primary team, where he prepared the tanks in his special unit,” Eytan said.

During the first days following Oct. 7, Nitai initiated and provided first-aid training to fellow soldiers under battlefield conditions.

On his few short furloughs home during the war, Nitai would say that he’d been carrying out logistical missions. In fact, he had spent the first week at Kibbutz Be’eri, and then fought inside the Gaza Strip before being killed by an anti-tank missile.

At the time of his son’s death, Eytan was already reciting Kaddish every day in memory of police Ch.-Supt. Vadim Blich, 39, killed in the fighting at Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7. Now Eytan had a personal reason to say this ancient prayer for the deceased.

Nitai, an avid outdoorsman who explored the length and breadth of Israel in his jeep and loved hiking in the Nahal Tzin reserve, is survived also by his grandmother Ruth; sisters Adi and Oriyah; brother Aviad; and nieces and nephews.

“Helping others and saving lives was a very central part of Nitai’s life. He once wrote to a friend that volunteering in MDA was the activity that gave him more satisfaction than anything else. By donating a bulletproof ambulance, we will continue his way of life and make it possible to save more lives,” said Eytan.

The armored ambulance

UPON LEARNING of Amishar’s death in March, the Meisels family contacted the Ben David family to suggest that the armored ambulance for Eli be dedicated in Amishar’s memory as well. They readily agreed.

Amishar, a high school teacher who often worked with at-risk youth, is survived by his wife, Shlomit; five children; six siblings; and his parents, Haim and Hanna.

He was a central member of the MDA team in Eli, providing medical response and communal support.

Like Nitai, Amishar began volunteering with MDA at the age of 16, serving in the Tiberias station during his high school years. After completing his compulsory army service, he began volunteering at MDA in Eli, and was later appointed team leader. He also donated a kidney to a stranger several years ago.

On Oct. 7, as a reserve commander in the Mobile Command Unit supporting the Commando Brigade, Amishar initiated a call-up to his soldiers, and together they went down to join the fighting in Kfar Aza.

“Amishar was a long-term, well-loved volunteer who lovingly and expertly directed dozens of volunteers, caring for them as though they were his children,” said Ori Shacham, director of MDA’s Jerusalem Region.

“He found his way to a key role early in his career, and stood out with his personal and professional skills. Amishar was an educator with special values, who led whomever he met to excellence. We will remember him forever.” 

To donate to the Israeli Friends of MDA campaign: www.ifmda.org.il/en/plans-and-projects/crowdfunding/2024-03-13-11-29-26