Israelis in Samaria Set New Record For Blood Donations in One Day

Hundreds of Israelis gathered at an IDF base in Samaria and set a new Israeli record for the largest number of blood donations collected in one day and one place.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

Some 1,567 blood donations were collected in a joint operation carried out by the Samaria Regional Council, the IDF’s Samaria Division and Magen David Adom (MDA).

This broke the last record set in Tel Aviv during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014 and which stood at 740 blood units.

This was the first time that an active attempt was made in Israel to set a record for blood donations.

The initiative for the operation was presented by the Samaria Brigade Commander, Col. Sagiv Dahan, who almost lost his wife Hofit about six months ago when she gave birth to their daughter and lost blood in the process and required seven units of blood, which saved her life.

The Samaria Brigade approached the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, and asked him to help them break the Israeli record and “say thank you for the miracle that happened to us,” as Hofit put it.

Dagan joined the operation and the Samaria Regional Council contacted residents to join the operation and sent buses to bring them.

Dagan expressed delight that they reached the target and beyond.