WHO did cooknsolo donate to when they donated to United hatzalah?

When a protest passed by CookNSolo restaurant Goldie briefly in 2023, the resulting news coverage revealed that employees had recently objected to a fundraiser held by their employers across several of their restaurants. In the week after the Al-Aqsa Flood, CookNSolo raised more than $100,000 for an organization called United Hatzalah of Israel. Employees spoke up after discovering posts about UH sharing supplies and working with the IOF. CookNSolo responded by insisting that UH is an apolitical rescue service. Some workers were even fired after speaking out. But the employees were right! United Hatzalah is a highly political organization, with complicity in the genocide and connections to its most powerful defenders. Fundraising for them is not a neutral act.

Screenshot from a now private UH promotional video about their support for the IDF

United Hatzalah of Israel was founded in 2006 by Eli Beer as a volunteer non-profit emergency response organization operating in “Israel.” They are dispatched and arrive at emergencies via ambucycle but also maintain a fleet of other vehicles. They run training drills with and provide supplies to the IOF and are heavily connected to the military and political infrastructure of the occupation, US foreign policy actors, and Zionist fundraising networks. They also run multiple programs with Destination Israel designed to bring students to “Israel” for EMT training, and partner with NCSY/the Orthodox Union to run a summer camp bringing Jewish teenagers from the US to the occupation.

SPREADING ATROCITY PROPAGANDA

United Hatzalah used its position as an organization of emergency workers to intentionally spread false and lurid atrocity propaganda in private meetings, public speeches, and CNN interviews in order to generate support for the genocide at its outset. On October 23, 2023, Eli Beer met with Joe Biden and reportedly recounted a number of claims to him directly. Five days later, Eli Beer delivered a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Annual Leadership Summit in Las Vegas (attended by Donald Trump). He made several outlandish and completely fabricated claims, based on what he falsely said were direct observations by UH volunteers, with the intention of dehumanizing Palestinians to the world, stating that “these are not regular enemies.” “‘We saw a little baby in an oven. Those bastards put these babies in an oven and [turned] on the oven. We found the kid a few hours later,’ Eli Beer, the director of United Hatzalah declared on October 30, recalling his organization’s rescue operation in southern Israel earlier that month…By stirring dark memories of Nazi Germany’s gassing of Jews during the Holocaust, Beer’s shocking story became the highlight of the RJC conference, earning tabloid headlines and sending pro-Israel pundits into an indignant frenzy.” (source)

Eli Beer embracing Joe Biden and speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition Summit broadcast on C-SPAN

When beloved Palestinian writer and teacher Refaat Alareer tweeted a wry joke about this transparently absurd claim circulated by Beer, American “journalist” Bari Weiss, along with many other prominent western outlets, launched a furious smear campaign against him. This campaign culminated in the targeted assassination of Alareer, his sister Asmaa, three of her children, his brother Salah, Salah’s son Mohammed, and a neighbor, carried out by the IOF on December 6th, 2023. Beer never personally retracted the claims he used both to generate donations and to instigate the genocide already underway. “Indeed, Beer’s story was another fraud debunked via one simple fact: as we have seen, the only baby killed on October 7 was 10-month-old Mila Cohen, who tragically died from a gunshot wound. A United Hatzalah spokesman publicly acknowledged Beer’s deceit on December 3, blaming ‘a volunteer who thought he saw such a case.’” (source)

Tweet from Refaat AlAreer

In addition to his many false claims about atrocities on October 7th, Beer also publicly claimed United Hatzalah volunteers engaged in military combat. In a guest appearance on the “Meaningful People” podcast on June 15th, 2024, Beer stated that “as United Hatzalah we faced over 100 terrorists that were either caught or killed by our volunteers.” While there’s no documentation to support his claim, for the head of a medical NGO to claim that their organization was killing and capturing resistance fighters is an indication of the degree to which they wish to be perceived as part of the occupation’s military efforts.

UH frequently dispatches volunteers to do things that fall well outside the purview of an ordinary ambulance service, operating more as material and social support for the military. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, “volunteers from across the country went to IDF cemeteries on Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) in place of the family members who couldn’t attend, where they recited the Kaddish memorial prayer for those who fell in battle, placed flowers on their tombstones, and stood in silence to give honor to those who sacrificed themselves for Israel.”

RAISING “ISRAEL’S” GLOBAL PROFILE AS THEY MURDER HEALTH CARE WORKERS and patients

Internationally, UH has marketed itself using what they claim are uniquely fast response times. This is part of a campaign to position “Israel” as innovators in lifesaving technology on a global stage and a model for foreign governments to follow. Of course, this stands in grotesquely stark contrast to the occupation’s well-documented practice of blocking ambulancesfrom reaching Palestiniansinjured by IOF and settler attacks and forcing them to wait at checkpoints while experiencing medical crisis. In July 2026, a Palestinian woman in the West Bank experiencing pregnancy complications was held by Israeli forces at a checkpoint until she miscarried and nearly lost her own life. "They came to the ambulance, opened the doors, checked all of us, and asked about Rana. I told them in English she needed to be taken to the hospital urgently and that it was an emergency miscarriage," Mohsen said." They pointed their weapons at me and ordered me to be quiet." (source) Decades of living under blockade in Gaza has meant travel necessary to receive medical care has been highly restricted, while medications and medical equipment were simultaneously blocked from entering even before the recent total destruction of the healthcare system and basic infrastructure.

The occupation has also consistently intentionally targeted, abducted, and slaughtered Palestinian and Lebanese emergency workers to thwart their attempts to reach the wounded. On January 29th, 2024, when 5-year old Hind Rajab was awaiting rescue alongside 6 murdered family members, the IOF intentionally fired on and killed her and two Palestinian Red Crescent workers dispatched to save her. (source) On March 23rd, 2025, the IOF fired on a convoy of emergency vehicles and then executed 15 Palestinian aid workers responding to an IOF massacre in the Al-Hashashin area of Gaza, then crushed and buried their vehicles along with their bodies to hide the evidence of the massacre (source). On April 22nd, 2026, when Lebanese reporter Amal Khalil and her collegue Zeinab Faraj were targeted and wounded in a “double tap” strike, Lebanese Red Cross workers were fired on and had stun grenades launched at them by the IOF, forcing them to withdraw, leading to Khalil’s death. (source) These are just a handful among many accounts.

A destroyed ambulance seen at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Feb. 28, 2024. Photo: Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua via Getty Images

MILITARY TECH

UH is also heavily integrated into the world of “Israeli” tech, boasting online about its advanced drone unit and cybersecurity center. United Hatzalah uses technology provided by Elbit systems to operate communications with volunteers in the field using Elbit’s SYNCH application. “Elbit Systems is apartheid Israel’s largest arms company. It is privately owned, and provides 80% of the weapons and equipment for Israel’s land forces and 85% of the combat drones used by the airforce. “  (BDS National Commitee)

Screenshot of Elbit’s website page advertising Synch

UH’s dispatch communications system is provided by “Israeli” startup Carbyne (formerly Reporty Homeland Security), which produces technology allowing dispatchers to access a caller’s phone camera and streaming location data via a clicked link. Carbyne’s founders include former IOF officers and intelligence agents. The company also recieved $1 million in startup capital from (now former) boardmember Ehud Barak. Reporting revealed that the bulk of this money came from Barak’s close associate, the notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Additional capital came from Peter Theil’s Founders Fund and former CIA director David Petraeus. In 2025, Carbyne was acquired by the American company Axon, which provides body cams and teargas to ICE and police in the US, as well as to occupation forces.

From the Axon website page about Carbyne

WHO ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH UNITED HATZALAH?

Eli Beer is the founder of United Hatzalah and its most prominent spokesperson. He is a proud illegal settler from the “ring settlement” “Ramot” built on land expropriated from the Palestinian villages of Beit Iksa and Beit Hanina. In a podcast interview he states “I am an Israeli who loves Israel; Judea and Samaria. I live in Ramot which is over the Green line according to the UN.” 

At least two of Beer’s children are currently participating in the genocide, with his daughter enlisting as recently as May of this year. Beer spends his time traveling internationally to ingratiate himself with US officials, influencing policy, spreading false claims, and most importantly, fundraising massive sums of money while openly advocating for constant war and expansion. In an op-ed agitating for continued US aggression against Iran from March 2026, he draws parallels between Trump and the king Achashverosh from the biblical book of Esther, casting Ivanka, Jared and Steve Witkoff as Esther, Netanyahu as the effective but misunderstood Mordechei, and Khamenei as Haman “the sworn enemy of the Jews.” “In the end, just as in the Megillah, the combined efforts of the Achashverosh, the Esthers, and the Mordechai of our time will ensure victory. The plans of Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, and their proxies to destroy the Jewish people, to harm Israel, Jews worldwide, and even America, will fail. The Achashverosh of our generation, the Esthers of our generation, and the Mordechai of our generation will ensure victory.”

Beer seated next to Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu

UH co-founder and International Chairman of the board, NY-based Mark Gerson, is an investor with deep ties to the American neoconservative movement, penning books and articles about his theories and sitting on the boards of Project for the New American Century and the Manhattan Institute. A profile from his early career describes his deep involvement with neocon figures like Tucker Carlson, Bill Kristol, and Norman Podhoretz, and also his longstanding enthusiastic support for pro-Israel Democrat Cory Booker: “... as successful as his company is, it's Mr. Gerson's place in Manhattan's burgeoning neoconservative social, political and intellectual scene that has gotten him where he is today.”

Gerson’s belief in both American neoconservatism and the occupation of Palestine naturally lends itself to a close alliance with another persistent presence in UH’s networks: the Christian Zionist movement. Gerson co-founded African Mission Healthcare Foundation, a Christian Missionary organization operating in Africa which partners with Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical organization run by the Graham family which frequently raises large sums of money for the occupation. “In this role he's thought of as the single largest donor to Christian medical missions around the world.” (source) While Gerson is personally a practicing Jew married to a Rabbi, he hosts multiple bible study podcasts and teaching series aimed at a Christian Zionist audience including “The Rabbi’s Husband” and “Torah Tuesdays,” in collaboration with Eagles’ Wings, a Christian Zionist lobbying group covertly funded by Israel. “Eagles’ Wings was secretly paid a total of $700,000 by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, $245,000 of which was allocated for its lobbying efforts this year, according to a previously unreported Israeli procurement document...The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes in the contract that it is funding Eagles’ Wings in order to prevent churchgoers and priests ‘from adopting pro-BDS and anti-Israeli positions.’ In the contract, an Israeli official conveyed that the campaign has support from high-ranking officials within the Israeli government.” (source) Guests on the Rabbi’s Husband podcast have included Cory Booker, former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz, and Tom Cotton.

Image advertising a joint project between Mark Gerson and the founder of the Christian Zionist organization Eagles Wings

christian zionists and U.S. officials

A quick look at UH’s official partner organizations reveals several more Christian Zionist organizations such as Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ ). CUFI was founded in 2006 by evangelical Pastor John Hagee and claims 10 million members. International Fellowship of Christians and Jews was founded in 1983 by the father of current head Yael Eckstein, an American orthodox Jew currently living in occupied Palestine. Sitting on the board of International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is religious fanatic and genocidal propagandist pastor Johnnie Moore, head of the US-Israel backed “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” a fake aid organization responsible for the deaths of more than 2,600 Palestinians trying to reach aid amidst the intentionally orchestrated famine in Gaza. Palestinian journalist Ruwaida Amer spoke to her cousin about his experiences going to GHF sites run by Johnnie Moore for aid: “There is great chaos, as if we are a flock of sheep running toward the grass and either we succeed in getting [the food] or not. When we reach the aid, the army starts shooting more at us so that we can empty the place. Those baskets are heavy and the food packages fall to the ground. The [Israeli] army sees us as targets and shoots at us to kill us.” (source)

Both CUFI and IFCJ operate as “charities,” while covertly funneling lobbying funds to the evangelical movement to shape policy and moving astronomical sums of money donated from Christian congregations overseas to expand the occupation. For example, IFCJ raises funds to help Jews migrate to “Israel” to join the occupation, and many of these organizations raise money for illegal settlements. “Before the Messiah returns, some Christian Zionists believe that certain events described in the Bible must take place—and they’re attempting to speed up the process. Christian Friends of Israeli Communities funds projects in the West Bank to fulfill prophecies related to settling and prospering this land. Other groups focus specifically on development and agricultural projects in the Negev Desert...” (source) They also fund Birthright-style trips to the Holy Land often with direct support from the Israeli government with the stated purpose of increasing evangelical support and advocacy for the Zionist project. One such organization, Passages Israel, sends participants to volunteer directly with United Hatzalah: “Passages Israel has taken 11,000 American Christian high school and college students to the Holy Land ‘to become impactful pro-Israel advocates.’ ” (source)

Israeli Ministry of Aliyah and Immigration partnership with IFCJ

UH engages in extensive international fundraising and hosts lavish galas across the US, supported by both “friends of” organizations and a youth influencer organization called “United Hatzalah Young Leadership.” The organization has cultivated relationships with both celebrities and politically connected individuals. In 2025, former Mossad Director Yossi Cohen and former CIA director Mike Pompeo were joint recipients of their “Protectors of Israel” award, presented at a Miami gala where they delivered an address entitled “How Spycraft Changed the Middle East.” At this event, Cohen describes his first time meeting Pompeo as “love at first sight” to warm laughter and says: “Things that the Mossad can do alone, that the CIA can do alone, we can do so much better together.”

Yossi Cohen, Eli Beer and Mike Pompeo at UH Gala event

Current US ambassador and Christian Zionist extremist Mike Huckabee was similarly given a “Defender of Israel” award, presented by Miriam Adelson and fellow Christian Zionist John Hagee. In a response to Mike Huckabee’s open Christian Zionism within his position as ambassador, Palestinian Christian Dr. Fares Abraham wrote: “For Huckabee, Christian Zionism is framed as an affirmation of biblical promise. But for Palestinian Christians like myself, and for Palestinians more broadly, its political outworking has meant dispossession, restriction, fear and loss. This is not theoretical. It is the daily reality of Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike, including the congregations Jerusalem's church leaders shepherd. Yet Huckabee shows little interest in listening to those who bear the cost of the ideology he blesses. Their suffering becomes theologically inconvenient.” Huckabee later attended a fundraising event where he and former US ambassador from Trump’s first term, David Friedman, performed as “the Ambassadors,” doing a bizarre rendition of “Sweet Home Yerushalayim” to the tune of “Sweet Home Alabama” with the following lyrics: “Well France and friends don’t think it’s Jewish, the United Nations call us crooks, but Donald Trump claims its ALL Israel, just as it says in all the holy books. Many say we have no capital, though we’re here for 3,000 years, but Yerushalayim is eternal where the U.S. Embassy appears.” The song is being sung by Elon Gold, a “comedian” who recently joked about the rape of Palestinians in occupation prisons on the red carpet of an industry event.

Steve Witkoff, the real estate investor currently acting as US special envoy to the Middle East, gave a speech at the 2025 UH fundraising Gala in NY for which his son Alex was the youth chair. Alex presented a “Hero of Israel” award to Netanyahu advisor and former Israeli ambassador to the US, Ron Derner. After Steve Witkoff’s introduction by Miriam Adelson, Witkoff praised UH who he says “lent it’s 7,000 volunteers to assist the IDF” after October 7th and then stated “I think Donald Trump is the first sitting President who could also be the Prime Minister of Israel at the same time.” He went on to praise Donald Trump’s efforts to suppress protestors against genocide to loud applause, and agitated for the upcoming US war of aggression on Iran. He concluded his speech by saying “May God bless Netanyahu, Donald J. Trump and everyone in this room.”

Steve Witkoff, Miriam Adelson, Eli Beer and Mark Gerson at the UH gala

Alan Dershowitz is an American attorney, Zionist activist and commentator and close associate and attorney of both Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. He is also a boardmember and longtime donor to UH and celebrated his 80th birthday by doing an interview with Eli Beer riding a UH ambucycle, along with a donation of $180,000 in his name (from a wealthy South African named Isy Danon, who routinely makes large donations to UH in honor of politically connected individuals ). “Beer asked Dershowitz to speak about the historical nature of the day with the Embassy moving to Jerusalem. Dershowitz said: “I had dinner with President Donald Trump some months ago and he asked me my opinion on this. I told him that I felt that it was even more mandatory now than ever before especially after the United Nations Security Council declared the Kotel and the Jewish Quarter illegal and not part of Jerusalem. I told him that now in order to level the playing field and make peace possible, you have to recognize the reality that Jerusalem is and has been the capital of Israel and the capital of the Jewish people for centuries, for millennia. Now, finally, the world is recognizing what we have all known forever, that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel and the Jewish people.” Dershowitz also gave a “briefing” to UH donors and supporters in his official capacity as a board member and lawyer where he claims that Trump’s plan for the illegal and inhumane forced removal of the population of Gaza is both legal and admirable .

Alan Dershowitz on a UH ambucycle next to Eli Beer

Who are some prominent donors to UH?

Miriam Adelson, purportedly the 48th richest person in the world, is a Zionist mega-donor, giving hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations working on behalf of the occupation. She owns Las Vegas Sands, the Dallas Mavericks and Israel Hayom, the most widely read newspaper in “Israel.” She is also a Trump mega donor, contributing 100s of millions to his presidential campaigns and legal funds, reportedly in an effort to influence him to support her lifelong position of West Bank Annexation. Recent reporting by the Washington Post on top individual donors to 2026 political races has Adelson among the top 5 with $67.6 million in donations. In a 2025 speech to the Israeli Knesset, Trump said of the Adelsons, “I kept my promise and officially recognized the capital of Israel and moved the American Embassy to Jerusalem. Isn't that right, Miriam? Look at Miriam, she's back there. Stand up now, stand up. Miriam and Sheldon would come into the office-they'd call me, he'd call me. I think they had more trips to the White House than anybody else I can think of. Look at her sitting there so innocently. She's got 60 billion in the bank-60 billion! And she loves Israel…But they were very responsible for so much, including getting me thinking about the Golan Heights, which is probably one of the greatest things that ever happened.” (source) Along with her late husband Sheldon Adelson, she financed the United Hatzalah “Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Ambucycle Unit,” and continues to finance vehicles and host fundraising events for the group. She’s a frequent presence and host at UH galas and opening events and the same Republican Jewish Coalition event where Beer gave his speech.

Eli Beer, Donald Trump and Miriam Adelson at the Republican Jewish Coalition event

Billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and Trump donor and associate Robert Kraft is also a major donor to and collaborator with United Hatzalah. He is a frequent guest at IOF fundraisers, and is responsible for the Passport to Israel Fund, which helps families start a savings fund to send children on trips to the occupation as well as programs for Israeli football teams. He also funded a Hillel building faced in Jerusalem limestone. From the Kraft family website: “Over the years, the Kraft family has maintained a strong connection to Israel, leading dozens of missions to the Holy Land with people from all different walks of life, Jews and non-Jews alike…These trips have made an impact on many local legislators.” (source) Through his various public-facing projects ostensibly “fighting antisemitism,” Kraft seeks to influence public perception of the movement to end the Zionist project, painting it as a hate movement. “Perhaps the most revealing component of Kraft’s Israel advocacy is how he uses his platform as the New England Patriots owner to spread racist rhetoric about the Palestine solidarity movement. In a recent CNBC interview , Kraft compared Gaza solidarity encampments to pre-Holocaust Nazi Germany. He then applauded the NYPD for their brutal arrests of campus protesters and called for the deployment of more militarized policing.” After receiving an award from Netanyahu for his work in support of the occupation: “Kraft declared he would forgo the $1 million prize, instead asking Netanyahu to use the funds for efforts to undermine the BDS movement. But the surprises weren’t over. During his acceptance speech, Kraft announced he was founding an organization called The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, whose goal would be “To counter the normalization of anti-Semitic narratives that question Israel’s right to exist, disguised as part of legitimate debate on campuses and in the media.” (source)

Robert Kraft speaking at a United Hatzalah event

The parents of former Meta CEO Sheryl Sandberg, Adele and Joel Sandberg, are longtime UH donors and funded their “women’s initiative.” While they are from New York, the Sandbergs lived in occupied Palestine in the past, and were very active in the movement to relocate Soviet Jews to Israel. (source) Their daughter Sheryl, also a major donor to UH, not only oversaw Meta during a period where it was responsible for proliferating genocidal incitement against Rohingya Muslims, but produced her own atrocity propaganda against Palestinians. Sandberg, leveraging her public image as a promotor of a noxious form of capitalist “feminism,” produced a documentary based on debunked reporting called “Screams Before Silence,” which was widely circulated and promoted, including by Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. Former VP Kamala Harris arranged a private White House screening of the film while her administration facilitated the genocide in Palestine. “Sandberg’s hyperfixation on unsubstantiated, sweeping, and racist Zionist claims that Palestinian men carried out a mass rape campaign on October 7 has become the go-to line wielded by liberal, Zionist ‘feminists.’” (source) Sandberg also appears in “October 8th,” a documentary focused on smearing movements against genocide as hate movements and circulating false claims about sexual violence. “October 8th” fundamentally relies on the stark reversal of victim and offender in the wake of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians, an innately anti-feminist strategy.” (source)

Adele and Joel Sandberg meeting with Menachem Begin (former Israeli PM, leader of the Irgun militia and founder of Likud) and Sheryl Sandberg posing with female UH workers

Howard Lutnick is a New York-based billionaire, head of Cantor Fitzgerald, Trump ally and donor, member of the Trump transition team and current Secretary of Commerce. He is also a significant donor to United Hatzalah, donating at least $7 million in June 2024. He was chair of their 2024 gala, attended by notoriously corrupt and pro-Israel former mayor of New York Eric Adams (source), and his sons Kyle, Casey and Brandon are co-chairs of United Hatzalah’s Young leadership organization. Speaking about his decision to support Trump’s 2024 election campaign, Lutnick said “[Trump] literally sat down with my wife and said ‘I will be the best president for Israel, I will protect Israel and take care of them.’” (source) He is also a major donor to Birthright and used the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund to match money raised for unspecified charities in support of the occupation in the wake of the Al-Aqsa Flood. Lutnick is also a well-known associate of Jeffrey Epstein. After making initial false claims that he had disavowed Epstein early in their relationship, a release of emails revealed that they stayed in close contact and that he had brought his family, including his children, to spend time with Epstein on his private island. (source)

Eli Beer posing with Howard Lutnick at a UH gala

NOT AN “APOLITICAL” AMBULANCE SERVICE

Coverage of the reaction to CookNSolo’s multi-restaurant fundraiser, as well as Solomonov and Cooks’ own framing of their donation, often describes United Hatzalah as “apolitical” and enthusiastically praises the organization’s supposed commitment to treating patients regardless of their race and religion (one might ask why that would be noteworthy!). While any contribution to the genocidal apartheid state is inherently political, even a brief look at UH exposes the organization as politically connected to the Zionist project: sharing supplies and training with the IOF, integrating Israeli military technology into their work, networking with extremist Christian Zionists and officials, and generating large donations by spreading false atrocity propaganda that built the foundation for the current phase of genocide. Like everything CookNSolo does to uplift the project of “Israel,” their donation to United Hatzalah was political. The workers and protestors who objected were right. Make sure your community knows where their money goes when it goes to CookNSolo restaurants and tell them to BOYCOTT COOKNSOLO!