Benjamin Saxe, former executive vice president of American Red Magen David Adom for Israel (as American Friends of Magen David Adom was previously known), passed away on Sunday in New York and was laid to rest Monday at the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem.
The AFMDA website says Saxe led the organization from 1972-2004. Under his leadership, AFMDA ensured Israel’s emergency medical technicians had proper training and equipment, and that the country had an ample blood supply to withstand some of its greatest crises, including the Yom Kippur War and the Second Intifada. Americans followed Mr. Saxe’s lead and sponsored thousands of ambulances, blood mobiles, and Mobile Intensive Care Units, while building numerous MDA medical stations and raising critical funds for the current National Blood Services Center.